Weary Sovereigns
by Wribro
Summary: The whole world is empty. The sands of time howl in a storm that deafens them to the sounds of all else. They've gone mad... and have, since then, gone sane. So unshakably, brutally sane that, at times, they wish that madness would come again, if only to take away the sheer cold of the certainty. The certainty that their story will never... ever... end. Time Travel. Cover by Ciber.
1. Again

The first thing that Katara did upon becoming aware was reflexively reach forward to catch Aang, who had just come out of the Avatar State and was tumbling down from the lip of the half-melted iceberg.

After coming out of his own disorientated state, Sokka just squatted, pulled out his bone-knife and started scratching things into the surface of the ice, muttering to himself.

"Stupid past with no inkwell pens or typewriters or word processors… or calculators... ugh. Xiao was really onto something with his probability theory of fundamental syntax, I _can't_ forget that stuff…" Scritch scratch scritch scratch.

Katara ignored her brother and focused on Aang, quickly waving her arms so that his entire body except for his mouth and nose was covered in glowing healing water. In addition, she reached _in_ and touched the blood flowing in his veins and arteries, making _it _glow with the power of healing. The result was pretty spooky-looking if one had never seen it before, but to her, it was as common as breathing; she knew that she could do it asleep if need be.

For _this_, however, she was wide awake.

Those first seconds out of the iceberg turned out to be crucial to his future health. His one hundred years of slumber damaged him in a way that could not be mended easily unless he got _instantaneous _medical attention from _either _a proper modern hospital - which wouldn't exist for another 120 years or so - _or_ Katara's abilities. If he didn't get the deep-healing treatment within _minutes_ it would wreck his chromosomes' telomeres and hasten the aging process, among other things. The only way to stop _that_ was to wrest control of thermodynamics from its natural course and get the remaining microscopic ice crystals present in his body to _slowly_ defrost.

This one procedure added decades to his lifespan. Almost doubling it, actually. Delayed healing would have only managed twenty years, maximum.

His eyelids slowly fluttered open, and Katara moved the water covering them out of the way. But as soon as he conscious of where he was, grey eyes (with still-glowing blue veins) flicked over to her face, and beneath the water covering mouth, he slowly grinned.

She smiled tiredly down at him.

"Here we are again, Aang."

At those words, his beaming dialed down a notch, becoming slightly pained, but he closed his eyes and shook it off, and the corner of his mouth went up in an expression of shared cynicism. Katara's smile faltered, becoming a small frown, and she looked away even as her hands stayed busy shaping the water to do as she commanded.

"I know," she said in response.

_There was no end._

But that train of thought led to madness and despair. So she instantly let it go.

A few more minutes later, she gently lowered her hands. Her work with him was done, but there was another member of their precious family that needed attention. The water sloughed off and Aang stopped glowing with healing light. Then Katara stood up from her kneeling position and briskly strode directly towards where Appa lay within the broken egg-shell of ice, brushing the wall separating them away with a flick of fingers and thought, but retaining the water in a globule which trailed after her.

Standing up, the airbender followed after to make sure that the flying bison had a familiar face to wake up to.

And to give him a hug. It was definitely a tradition, by now.

Katara swiftly brought the water she took from the iceberg-shell to bear on Appa in a luminescent blanket which she used to completely cover him except for his face, speaking casually as she did so, "Your book got made into a mover."

Aang, who was leaning back against the bison's forehead watching her work, flushed red, groaning as he brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Oh, no… which one?"

"_The Thrilling Adventures of the Blind Bandit_."

The comedy. Of course. "Who…?"

"Lobsang. Your fifth great grandchild. Airbender."

The Avatar blinked. He knew who she was talking about.

"Really?" Of all the acolytes, he least expected _him_ to become attached to the material world. He had seemed so enthusiastic about the Air. Or maybe he just worshipped the ground Aang walked on, he wasn't sure now.

"He didn't really like temple life," she explained, "He took the 'I'll do whatever I want, thank you' approach to airbending philosophy. Or so he told me. He left the island around the time when Toph moved on," she shifted, and the water moved with her.

Shrugging, he nodded in understanding, "That's freedom. Doesn't get much more airbender than that. I'm glad he decided to be an artist."

Moving around to Appa's other side to focus more of her energy, she glanced at her spouse, "It was good. He renamed it, though. _Professor Wang Fire Must Be Stopped_."

He snorted in amusement. "Good one."

"I thought it was a good adaptation. You would have liked it. I told him so."

"Yeah?" he closed his eyes, feeling mellow.

Katara smiled gently, "I think he was happier than when he got the Golden Gong."

The mood turned cold.

"Stop," he implored, "Please." _No more_.

She understood. "... Okay."

Aang suddenly found himself being lifted up by a giant tongue. Groans vibrated through the ice to their feet.

"Hey, Appa!" he called, laughing, "Good to see you awake!"

He was lowered to the ground, and Aang leapt on to his head, embracing.

"I missed you buddy," he murmured into his fur.

When he jumped back off to his feet, he faced his companion and gestured, "This nice girl's name is Katara. She's healing you right now, and she needs you to stay still."

A slow blink and a moo of acknowledgement.

"It'll feel good, I promise!"

Then he backed off, looked to his wife of another life, and looked away. The air between them was uncomfortable, as it sometimes was. That was the difference that a decade of distance, for her, and yesterday, for him, brought.

It wasn't that he wanted to avoid her. He just didn't want to think about the people that he left behind. Pointing, he started shuffling back to where Sokka was scratching up the ice.

"I'll be over there having a lie down."

Her voice was soft (and pained, but she did her best to hide it), as he walked away, "Alright."

* * *

The Avatar just lay there in the snow watching clouds go by through the bright blue sky, and all was silent except for the distant blowing of arctic wind and the scratching of a knife against the ice.

Scritch scratch, "... the sum of the frequency of occurrence for n-tuple relations between morphemes _within _a random grammatically correct sentence should add up to the expected value…" Sokka mumbled, eyes raking over the symbols he'd already written even as he hurriedly continued his figuring.

Aang couldn't stop the smile coming to his face, and he sat up from his previously horizontal position.

He might as well ask; taking care of Appa usually took Katara a while, since he was pretty big.

"How's your research going?" he asked curiously. Updates on Sokka's projects were invariably interesting.

He didn't look up from what he was doing, but possessed the presence of mind to answer his friend while he worked, "Finished… for now. I finally found that basal bit I was raving about, about six months after the Ba-Sing-Se Element Collider was built this time, only about five years after you left."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there," Aang offered honestly. It was heady to be around Sokka when he was excited about something. A beautiful breath of fresh air.

The glow of Katara's healing session suffused the air with an ethereal light and a low ringing, bell-like sound. He could hear Appa's groans of contentment as Katara washed away the aches of cryogenic sleep.

"Don't worry about it. I'll paint a picture of the party for you when I get my hands on a kit."

_That_ was a skill the Sokka had taken singular care to absolutely master. There wasn't any other way to share memories from another lifetime, after all.

Sweeping snow over what he had written, he waddled over to a fresh patch of ice, still in his squatting position, and started making a table of numbers based off of the calculations he had been making previously. Sharp blue eyes scrutinized the work, endeavoring, as always, to extract meaning from the world.

"After that, I decided I wanted to switch specialties. I think I'm done with physics for now. I wanted to see what was up with linguistics."

"Linguistics?" his friend asked bemusedly.

He vaguely waved his free hand around, eyes still focused on the task at hand, "The study of how language works?"

Aang rolled his eyes, rolling his whole head with the movement and leaning back on his elbows, "Ugh, I _know _what it is, Sokka. I mean, why?"

At that, his head turned up from what he was doing to pierce the airbender with his analytical gaze, some degree of unbelief showing in the tilt of his head, "Why do we do _anything_?"

The Avatar coolly returned his stare, raising an eyebrow. That question did _not _deserve a response. "Patronization doesn't suit you. I _mean_," he stressed, "What made you think of linguistics _in particular_? Why not," he threw random disciplines into the air, "Computers? Chemistry? Or…" he thought for a moment, adding on wistfully, "Rocket science?"

Now Sokka rolled his eyes, "Your love affair with space is heartbreaking, you know that? You _do _know that it's going to be _at least _eight decades before that's even close to happening, right?"

"I can't help it, okay? The stars, the sun, the moon… It's _beautiful_. And -"

"And it's the ultimate expression of detachment from the earth. Right. Every airhead's wet dream. How could I forget?" he replied dryly, outwardly sarcastic, but internally wondering somewhat at how Aang managed to hold on to that part of his identity, even after all this time. _He_, himself,certainly didn't feel like he was Water Tribe anymore. Turning back to the chart he drew, he eyed it critically, "To answer your question, let me see if I can remember…"

Adding a few changes to the graph he composed out of the data he _somehow _still had stored in his head, he finally stood up, looking over at the monk and shrugging, "I guess that it started when I wondered if there was such a thing as a 'perfect language'."

"A 'perfect language'?" he queried, a hint of skepticism in his voice, "What does that even mean?"

At that line of inquiry, Sokka smiled, big and bright, and Aang felt himself automatically reciprocate it. It was too rare. Those moments when they were lighthearted. For whatever reason he found, and even for no reason at all for the sake of raising his family's spirits, Aang would smile.

Chortling, Sokka nodded, a starlike twinkle in his eyes, "Well, _that's _the big question, isn't it? What, indeed?" he affirmed happily, "I hope to spend a nice _long _time figuring out the answer."

And that's all that it ever was... just a matter of time.

* * *

They waited, simply absorbing the environment of the South Pole, neither saying anything while they waited for their flying bison's medical treatment to finish up. Aang went back to laying in the snow, lazily flicking and twirling his left pointer finger and letting his mind wander while he bent the air into a convoluted pretzel of jets and cyclones.

The glowing stopped, and Aang looked over just in time to see Katara removing the sheet of water that she covered Appa with, who moo-ed energetically, feeling refreshed and ready to fly due to being rejuvenated by Katara's waterbending. Wandering back over to where Sokka was standing, she folded her arms and her mouth twisted into a smirk as she gave a sidelong glance at her brother.

"You didn't tell Aang how you died this time?"

Having had a great deal of practice, Sokka's card face was truly a thing to behold… to anyone who wasn't included in their little group. Whenever he pulled it out in front of one of _them_, though… well, all it served to do was afflict the airbender with morbid curiosity and a sense that he was about to hear something ridiculously funny.

"Forgive me for my oversight," he said, a hint of annoyance peeking through, "It was only a few minutes ago for me, you see, so it slipped my mind. I think it was a very dignified way to go, thank you very much. By the way, how long did _you _last?"

Katara allowed the temporary deflection to answer him, "Zuko ended up croaking first… again. I suppose it was too much to hope for otherwise. He held out for four months after you. I'd already taught the new Avatar waterbending by then, so I didn't really have a reason to stick around, and wasn't looking forward to the waiting time to expire of old age, so I drank the tea."

"Katara…" uttered Aang sadly, quietly. But he didn't say anymore when she flicked a warning glance his way. They had been over this before, and with the relentless march of time, he came to understand her point of view. Not that he'd ever personally be okay with it. But he could see how, after having seen their _grandchildren's children _become adults, having outlived her children, having outlived all of _them_, she would be quite tired of it all by the end of the run and want to get it over with.

Her gaze moved back to pointedly pin down the tall warrior, raising her gloved right hand to gesture at him, mockingly offering him to walk the plank, as it were, "That was an admirable attempt, brother mine, but it will come out of your mouth, where you can control it, or it will come out of mine, where I will twist it to the fullest extent that I'm capable of."

Finally giving up, Sokka huffed and crossed his own arms, his lips turning into pout as he glanced down at Aang with some trepidation. The Avatar leaned forward from his sitting position in eager anticipation.

"... I fell asleep during a lecture."

Even though he guessed that it would be good, he didn't expect _that_.

Laughter exploded out of him, and he nearly tipped backwards from the force of it, "HAHAHAhahaha! Y-_You_! The fearsome Professor Sokka, slayed by the boring drone of one of his colleagues! _HAHAHA_-!"

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, airboy!"

"A-and that explains w-what you were doing just now… _y-you were still taking _notes! HAHA-!"

It didn't become hysterical, but it was close. Novelty like _that _was the most precious thing in the universe, following his family. He enjoyed it to its fullest.

Wiping away the tears that came with such a good laugh, Aang nodded to himself, "That right there… Is going into a _book_."

And what a threat _that_ was, since he seemed to regularly find himself hailed as the greatest man of literature in history. It was pretty flattering, and, Aang noted slyly as he watched Sokka _blush _and start to spit in incredulous fury, it would bring in a suitably large audience.

"Don't worry, Sokka! I'll be sure to use a nice, opaque pseudonym for your character!" he said cheerfully, bringing his big, innocent, twelve-year-old gaze to bear on him.

Upon seeing just what that _deceitful_ _flying rat _was doing, he flicked at the biological preteen's forehead-arrow, "Like _Wang Fire_? And drop the act. That _never _worked, you pipsqueak. From _day one_. Not even when you were an _actual_ little kid."

"Oh, I recall a lifetime or three when it worked," Aang replied loftily, letting up on the cuteness and swiping away the older boy's offending finger.

"HA! Never," he sniffed.

"Besides, you were never Wang Fire last time around! No one knew!" the Avatar argued.

Sokka shook his head. "Oh, no, that punk knew _exactly_ what he was looking for when he picked a lookalike of _me_ to act that part in the mover. You've been _talking_."

To his right, Katara sighed in exasperation when Aang looked like he was about to retort.

"Anybody interested in getting off of the hunk of ice? Today, maybe?"

With that interruption, the airbender paused and glanced in Katara's direction. Wrapping arms around his legs, he turned away from his love of innumerable years and leaned his head into his knees.

"You guys sure about this?" came his muffled voice.

It was a pertinent question. Katara hummed a bit, raising a hand to rub at her eye. She recalled the last time they all had a meeting together, and the decision they had arrived at.

"I am. This'll be good for us, Aang. I think that we've all been a little depressed, lately. We should be more active, this time."

He lifted his head back up.

"Yeah," he said softly, "I agree. I just wanted to know whether you two were still okay with that. It's been a few years since then for you, is all. I was wondering if you might have changed your mind."

Neither Katara nor Sokka acknowledged the lie they knew their friend was telling. Both knew that if they showed even the remotest hesitation, Aang would latch on to that and it would all be over before it began. He was always a little skittish about _these _kinds of lifetimes, at least at first. His pacifism, still present within him, made him resistant to the idea.

But, for one of _them_, the specter of boredom was a far more powerful motivating factor, and they knew it.

Throwing up his arms, Sokka made a warding gesture.

"Hey," he interjected, "I'm with all of you on this one. Relaxing is fine, and all, but I can tell we've been coasting for a while, now." A small, dark smile as he brought his gloved hand to his chin to stroke a nonexistent beard, "It'll be _fun _to shake things up, for once."

Boy, _that _sure brought back memories. And they were Really Bad ones.

Aang and Katara shared a brief look, communicating _volumes _of trepidation in an instant.

Noticing the byplay, Sokka sighed in irritation at the other two, "I'm _not _gonna blow up anything important, okay?"

"Oh, _that's _reassuring," his sister said dryly, but not without some warning in her voice.

He frowned, "_How _long ago was that, now?"

"Long enough that we _really should _just forget about it," the Avatar emphasized, turning pleading eyes onto Katara to _please don't bring it up again please_.

She relented. "Anyway," she added reasonably, "It'd be rude to hang Toph out to dry when she's going to act according to plan with or without us."

_It was _her _plan_, went unsaid, _and she'll probably kick your butt if you jump ship while it's her turn._

Taking this pause to finally airbend himself up from his reclined position on the ice, Aang snickered, "I guess you guys are right," he said, grinning, "It's not like it's the end of the world, or anything."

The deliberate irony of that statement was not lost on any of them.

Once upon a time,that was how it _really was_. Frightened children lost in a war-torn world, trying desperately to snatch peace from the jaws of destruction. It was an unforgettable journey, a date with destiny topped off with an epic battle between the forces of good and evil. Then, afterward, it was a long drive to rebuild and reshape the world, filled with successes and pitfalls and happy (now faded) memories and unnecessary pain. They were pleased with themselves, when all was said and done, having lived fulfilling lives. They had done their best.

But then it happened again. And again. And again, ad infinitum.

The Avatar turned suddenly to gaze off to the east, a brief look of concentration appearing on his face before relaxing.

Katara inclined her head. "Zuko?"

Aang nodded. "He says hello."

The moment was interrupted when the three of them were bowled over by an impatient Appa.


	2. Lie By Omission

Zuko's reaction to the pillar of light which had appeared in the distance had been… unexpected. The usual exclamations about the Avatar would not have been out of place. Even a simple barked order to the helmsman to head a course for the light would have been fine.

Collapsing onto the deck whilst holding his own head between his hands was _not fine_.

Iroh barely noticed as, across from him, Lieutenant Jee slid a tile into place on the pai sho board.

At first, he had only felt concerned about the situation. Now, he was feeling anxious. Something was wrong with his nephew, and he didn't know what. Oh, it was obvious that it had something to do with that beam of light from earlier, but he still couldn't figure out what could have happened to the prince. Other than it must have something to do with the spirits.

"General Iroh?"

Jostled from his thoughts, the aging firebender focused onto the table between them, before breaking out into chuckles.

"Well, that was very... assertive of you, Lieutenant," he offered diplomatically. The pattern in the game had been easy discern before. Now it was utterly transparent. The hourglass marking the time was still only half-full.

Though he couldn't see his own demise which he had wrought, Jee groaned, "I'm going to lose, aren't I?"

The helmsman, Wan, coughed from his standing position at the wheel, and the man turned around in his seat to give the man a stink eye.

"You think that this is funny?"

Shrug. Grin. _Of course not, _he signed.

"You dumb son of a-"

"Your ire is misdirected, soldier," Iroh chastised.

Abashed, "Sorry, sir."

"And don't worry about your game; every time we play, I see your skills increase greatly!" he said jovially, placing and sliding his Stone Tile into the Fourth Intersection to deal a fatal blow to his opponent's stratagem, "I'm sure that when we play again, I'll have a much more difficult time obtaining victory."

"Right, sir," Jee commented with a straight face as he watched the General decimate his formation beyond recovery. Closing his eyes as if it pained him, he took the still-running hourglass and set it on its side, "I resign."

Another cough sounded from behind him, and the soldier twitched.

"It was a good game," Iroh asserted, folding his hands into his sleeves. He caught sight of Wan's left hand flipping through signs, eyes still facing forward and his right hand still on the wheel.

_Thank you, sir._

Since there was no way to acknowledge that without alerting the other occupant of the room, Iroh simply blinked and yawned.

"I think now, however, that these old bones need their rest," he said as he stood up, cracking his back as he did so, "I'm going to check in on the prince and turn in for the night. Sleep well."

"Yes, sir, you as well, sir."

As the old man slowly made his way down the ladder leading to the rest of the ship, his sharp ears could hear grumbles and the exchange of coin.

_So _that's _why the Lieutenant was so cross,_ he thought mirthfully, before sighing contentedly as he touched down at the hallway leading to Zuko's captain's quarters, _Well, that was an awfully big hourglass. Maybe he should have bet on not losing to me in a _smaller _amount of time._

* * *

_Aang._

_Hey, Zuko._

_It's nice to hear you again. Say hi to Sokka and Katara for me. See you in Yu Dao._

_Alright._

* * *

Gently tapping on the metal portal, he tentatively requested entry, "Prince Zuko?"

Iroh didn't hear any response. He didn't expect one, at this point.

Opening the door, he took in a sight which he would carry with him for the rest of his life.

What he had been _expecting_, upon opening the dormitory door, was an immobile vegetable on the bed. Vacant eyes staring. That was what he and Lieutenant Jee had had to deal with, bodily carrying him from the outside deck to his quarters, after all. All the while listening to nonsense mumbling about light and fire. Jee had said that the Prince had gone insane. The General swore him to silence about what had happened, and internally had begged the spirits that the lieutenant was _wrong _and that whatever it was could be _fixed_…

But instead of _that_, the old man could only goggle at what was, to his knowledge, the most impressive feat of firebending he had ever seen in his life.

Candles filled the room. Waves of heat billowed out into the hall, and Iroh was blasted by the various sweet-smelling scents of melted wax. He could see that the entire room had been rearranged, cleared to make room for as many candles as could fit. The mattress stood on its side, out of the way. The meditation table, where the customary _four _firebending training devices were supposed to sit, and the cushion that one normally sat on: They, too, were folded and put away. At a glance, he guessed that the candles were as evenly-spaced as possible throughout the room. And in the center of it all…

If his eyelids widened any further, he'd have to fear for his eyes popping out.

Zuko was sitting, cross-legged, in the midst of all this. Eyes open, alert, and immediately focused on Iroh. Not on the candles which moved in time with his breathing. In his right hand was his dagger which Iroh had gifted to him (_Never give up without a fight_). In his left… In his left was the phoenix plume which, evidently, the prince had decided to _cut off_ for some reason.

For a few moments, all they did was stare at each other. Then the aged general slowly got down on his knees.

A flash of amusement went across his (maybe not) nephew's face, like he knew what he was about to do.

He suspected it when he had seen each of the flames move in _perfect unison_, but he _had _to see it for himself. When the side of his head was pressed against the cold metal floor of the entryway, he peered at the candles from the side.

When the flames lowered with Zuko's exhale, Iroh could not hold in a gasp.

The wax. All of the candlewax. It was all melted down to _exactly the same level_.

Hastily, the Dragon of the West vaulted back up into a ready fighting stance, glaring at the… being who masqueraded as the Prince in front of him with deep suspicion.

"Who are you, spirit? And what have you _done _to my nephew!"

Everything stopped for a few moments, the candlelights holding themselves eerily still. Then the apparition shifted, letting the cut ponytail fall into its lap and lifting its left hand in a mollifying gesture.

"Peace, Uncle," it replied, "I am still here."

"No, he is _not_," Iroh contested quietly, dangerously, "Your wear his body like an ill-fit pair of britches, _fiend_. No _human_ can do what you're doing right now!"

"If I was a spirit, then you _know_ what would come of this if you were to challenge me. It would end badly," it intoned, letting its pacifying pose fall. Then something… appeared in its eyes which gave him pause, "As it is… _Please_… Listen to me."

The Dragon of the West narrowed his eyes, but nodded, lowering his arms, yet keeping himself at the ready to attack at the slightest deception. The being returned the motion with a grateful look on Zuko's face, before closing its eyes and _breathing_, causing the candles to flare higher momentarily before settling back down as it slowly, meditatively breathed out. Then, in a clear, yet lowly pitched voice that wouldn't carry out into the hall:

"I am Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. Brother to Princess Azula. Nephew to Prince Iroh. Son of Fire Lord Ozai, who was grandson of Fire Lord Sozin, now passed. And I am son of Ursa, who was granddaughter of Avatar Roku, now passed. You, Uncle, are Grandmaster of the White Lotus before you are Prince. My destiny… Is _not_ to capture the Avatar. And I have seen visions… _so many visions… _of the future, that I am old, now. Visions which are so much stronger than dreams, that they're memories. I've mastered firebending a thousand times in a thousand lifetimes…" and _he_ opened _his_ eyes, lifting an eyebrow, "And you should come inside before you catch a cold," his nephew said, gesturing at the doorway.

He heard loud and clear. _Shut the door before someone hears me passing out secrets like so much fire flakes, please._

Hurriedly, Iroh stepped inside, turned, shut the door with a _clang_, locked it in place, turned, and gaped.

"... Zuko?" he whispered, "Is that _really you_?"

"Yes," he said stoically, before offering a somewhat bashful smile, "I apologize for frightening you earlier this afternoon, by the way. I was not myself."

Feeling as though his head was going to wobble off of his shoulders, Iroh brought his hands up to his temples to steady himself and try to refrain from shouting.

"Zuko," he said carefully, "If that _is _who you are… _What happened to you?_"

* * *

_So _that's _what happens when you die in the middle of deep meditation. Thanks, Sifu Hotman!_

_Aang, you made me look _crazy_!_

_You're welcome!_

_Yeah, thanks. Thanks a _lot_. Really appreciate it._

* * *

The prince's smile disappeared, becoming a frown twinged with a definite, _familiar_ note of irritation that put the general more at ease than a hundred impassioned speeches ever could.

"That was… the vision, coming to me," he grated out, annoyance clear in his voice for some reason that Iroh couldn't fathom, "Please," with a final huff of breath, every candle in the room was simultaneously extinguished… except for the one that was directly in front of Zuko, "Clear a space. Pull up a cushion. Sit. I have much to tell you."

Shaken by yet another casual display of awesome firebending control, Iroh found he was still not entirely sure that this was really his nephew. But his current demeanor was so reminiscent of the prince… He would operate, for now, based on the assumption that this really was his family and not some benevolent ghost who had taken over his body.

Careful not to spill any melted wax from any of the candle holders, the man did as he had been asked and cleared a space, grabbing the meditation cushion when he finished. As he settled down on the floor in front of him, the old general observed the way the candlelight threw Zuko's face into sharp relief.

"The first thing that you need to know is that the Avatar is definitely alive, and he is _very _close by," he revealed bluntly, and Iroh lurched back in surprise, "The light that you saw earlier was him emerging from an iceberg after being frozen for a hundred years. We need to leave the South Pole, tomorrow, for two reasons. As you _well_ know, the Fire Lord has spies planted on this ship; it would be _a good idea_," stressing the words lightly, "for them to not find out about Aang."

"Aang?"

"The Air nomad."

"_The Avatar_," the Dragon of the West breathed out, awed. Continuing, and searching his nephew's countenance for confirmation, "You…?"

"Yes, Uncle," the prince placated, eyes glittering with warmth, "I'm on his side. I'm _not _going to try to capture him in some misbegotten attempt to get Ozai to restore my honor."

Zuko slid slightly as he moved into a more comfortable position. Then came the words, "You've been more of a father to me than he ever was, anyway."

Before the older man could gather his wits at the bombardment of information and the storm of emotion brought by those words, his nephew soldiered on, "The second reason that we need to get out of here _soon_ is that Commander Zhao is currently stationed at Whale Minor, but he won't be for much longer; he's about to be transferred to the Crescent Island Naval Defense Point. I have… business, with him," he finished grimly.

Iroh fastened onto the discrepancy that he detected in that pronouncement, "_Commander _Zhao? Isn't Zhao just a captain?"

The corner of Zuko's mouth twitched upwards, "He _was_. Supposedly his performance as a _mere _captain marked him for bigger, better things. You will find that he has been promoted for… loyalty, unofficially."

_He sings Ozai's tune the loudest. _

The old soldier understood that concept _quite well_. It was the reason that _murderous animal_, Bujing, had been promoted to general. It was the reason that the forty-first division was dead and _buried _in an unnamed Earth Kingdom mass grave. It was the reason he had to watch Zuko's vehement reaction to the vile plans discussed within the war room, realizing too late that _he should've just said _no…

"The truth is a bit deeper than what you're probably thinking…"

Returning to reality, Iroh leaned forward to listen intently. Zuko was frowning, and his gold eyes were gazing intently into the flame of the sole candle between them.

"Zhao is not competent enough to have the confidence of Ozai; the Fire Lord, rightly, thinks he's an imbecile. The esteemed commander is blackmailing, on the one hand, and bribing, on the other hand. Through an _impressively twisted _series of events, which I will not recount for now, he found an underground spirit library in the Earth Kingdom containing both of these instruments.

"The bribe is that Zhao has found a way to permanently destroy the Water Tribes, involving the Moon and Ocean Spirits. However, this by itself would not have been enough to convince Ozai of the truth within the documents. And, even if he _did _believe that the scrolls were true, and that Zhao's plan would work on top of that, he would have assigned the plan to someone he felt was more fitting for the job. In Zhao's mind this was probably even _worse _than not selling the plan at all, because he's twice as egotistical as the Fire Lord.

"This is where the blackmail comes in."

Zuko's gaze moved up to look his uncle in the eyes, and the general was transfixed.

"Zhao has irrefutable proof that Ozai usurped the throne."

_If this evening continues in the vein that it has for much longer_, Iroh remarked to himself in a distant corner of his mind, _I will need to see the ship physician about heart palpitations._

Reeling at the news of his brother's apparent treachery, all of the breath went out of him in a great big _whoosh_ as he slumped in his seated position. His nephew continued:

"Through this, the commander is extorting the Fire Lord into giving him the resources he wants… But also has convinced him about the veracity of the Moon and Ocean scrolls. So, even though the Fire Lord very much _hates Zhao's guts_, he will give him absolutely everything he wants and more to ensure that his scheme succeeds. The only thing which prevented them from moving in on the Northern Water Tribe immediately is that it would have been _suspicious_, to say the least, for someone to go from being a private in the Army to being an Admiral of the Navy."

Zuko went quiet, and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply, the light of the candle glowing brightly for a brief moment before settling back down.

"He _will_ fail, if he attempts this plan. That is a foregone conclusion. In fact, if he comes _close _to the point of succeeding, he will regret it for the rest of his very short mortal life… and for his much longer afterlife."

At that, Iroh sat back up and commanded his lungs to function properly, attempting to get himself back in order. He stared at the prince for a long moment.

"... If his failure is certain, then why? Why are we going to meet him?"

Zuko looked at him like he was stupid, raising an eyebrow. Then the general shook his head, berating himself within his mind and answering his own question aloud with the obvious conclusion.

"Of course… If nothing is done, I suppose many people will die."

"So will he."

Now Iroh looked at his nephew in disbelief.

"Him? What do you mean? You can't possibly care about him; you hated him!"

Zuko sighed, and it sounded like exasperation.

"You must understand, Uncle, the time I've spent in my visions… I am tired. _So _tired. And old. I just don't have it in me to _hate_ anymore. It's pointless. And aside from that… The Avatar is very _particular _about the sanctity of life," he informed wryly, and, beyond the reflection of the flickering light of the candle, Iroh could see the spark of admiration within his burnished eyes.

That wasn't the distant recollection of a vision. Iroh knew that personally from his own experience with the spirits.

It was truly as Zuko had said earlier. They were memories… from the future.

And, by now, the old man was beyond convinced that Zuko was himself. No spirit he had ever heard of was on _this good _terms with a human. _Any _human.

Screwing his eyes shut, he let his face rest in his hands.

"Do you… Do you have a plan, Zuko? You must have something in mind."

A conspiratory smile.

"I am going to give Zhao… _pause_, about trifling with spirits. And about other things. Don't worry. There's a long laundry list of things to do. Zhao is just the most immediate."

After that, they both were silent for a long time.

Iroh listened to the prince's inhales and exhales while he turned over all that he'd been told. It was an incredible fortune, like his deepest wishes had been granted. For him, personally, and for the entire world. Zuko… was like everything he ever hoped for him to become… the beautiful prince he was always meant to be. Though, it had come at a price, he could see, in the manifest age of his nephew's soul. And yet never, in his wildest dreams, did he expect anything like _this _to just… _fall _into the world's lap. In fact… _Dare I ask…?_

"My nephew… the war? Everything? Will the Avatar defeat the Fire Lord? Will I live to see peace?" he asked in a small voice, holding his breath.

A beat passed, then the prince gave a small smile:

"Firstly… I thought I told you that you are my father, to me. Secondly, if things go according to plan, and there is no reason why they wouldn't… Yes."

And he threw his arms forward, knocking over the candle as he embraced his newfound son.

Unseen by Iroh, Zuko's smile had become tinged with sorrow. The sorrow of eons.

* * *

_I have that routine memorized._

… _I'm sorry._

_Don't be._

_You'll never tell him the truth again? I mean… _ever?

_No. I can't burden him with that knowledge anymore. It kills him, Aang. He knows what a curse it is for me. For _us_._

… _Yeah._


	3. She's Back

Lao quietly sipped on his tea at the dining room table as he contemplated the coming day. Poppy had just sent the servant to go fetch their daughter.

"How goes business, dear?" came the daily, traditional inquiry from his caring wife. She sat to his left, and brought a pair of chopsticks up to her not-yet-painted lips, breaking fast.

As was custom, he humored her, "Shipments of finished metal from the western coast of the Earth Kingdom have been slowing, lately, though this is ordinary at this time of year. The routes are currently plagued with storms. But things should return to normal once winter's over."

"Oh, good," came the reply, though they both knew she had no idea what he was talking about. That was fine, though, because her role was solely to support her husband and run the household. It was the way of things, and they were both happy with it.

Of course, now it was time for him to reciprocate, "What is scheduled for today?"

By which he meant to inquire whether or not there were any guests coming to visit.

None, it turned out. "I planned to practice Haiku verse with Toph."

Nodding, "Very good."

At that point, their very ordinary morning was violently disrupted.

Poppy was about to have another bite of steamed rice, but cried out in shock when the barrier to her left next to the paper door connecting to the main hall was blasted open. The piece of wall slid forward before crushing the table, room quickly filling with billowing clouds of dust. Man and wife both quickly went into coughing fits.

"Guards! Hehe_hack_, _guards_! Defend my person, we're under attack! Ack!" he called out, eyes squinting, waving a hand in front of his face to clear away the air.

He felt clinging hands on his robe, "Lao!"

Standing, he tried to grab hold of his wife and lift her into a standing position, "Come with me! We have a panic room, maybe we can get away -!"

"Hey Mom, Dad, how ya doing?" said a voice filled with childish happiness.

They froze, and looked at each other in distraught. _Toph!_

Her mother reacted first, her green eyes searching through the cloud of grit as she tried to warn her daughter, "Toph! We have to get away, there are burglars!"

"Is there anyone with you?" Lao stumbled in the direction of his little girl's voice, "Poppy, get to the guest hall! Toph, quickly, follow the sound of my voice, grab onto my hand!"

"Hmmm, let me think about that… No."

And the dust that filled the room was promptly swept away, revealing their daughter in an earthbending pose for a brief moment before she relaxed and waved, giving a wide grin.

"What's up?"

One could hear a pin drop in the silence which followed that greeting. Poppy, with one foot through the servants' door in the opposite hallway, looked as though she might pass out. He could hear his own heart pumping in his ears, trying to take in the scene before him.

The choice of clothing she wore was totally unfamiliar; she looked like some peasant boy dressed up as one of those vagabond earthbending gladiators he'd heard about in town. Toph had her left hand planted on her waist, her right hand up in a mocking salute and was still smirking.

Stunned, her father shouted, "What on earth are you _doing_, Toph!"

She moved and held up her hands in a 'Who knows?' gesture, breezily strolling into the room as she did. "Remodelling the dining room?" she tried, "I thought it could use a new door."

Lao's brain returned an error message as it scrambled to find the correct response to this stimulus.

Red faced, "Do you have _any _idea how expensive…! No, what am I _saying_…?" he brought the palm of his hand to his forehead, horrified at himself for thinking of expenses ahead of his daughter's _safety_. "You could have _hurt _yourself, earthbending like that! What were you _thinking_!"

His wife unfroze from her previous stupefaction, rushing back into the room, picking her way across the wreckage of the dining room table and lifting a scolding finger, "Don't _scare _us like that! You _don't know _how to earthbend; you're only allowed to bend when Master Yu is watching over you!"

"You, young lady, are going to your _room_," her father declared imperiously, "There will be no visiting the gardens for you today. You're grounded!"

Before Lao could reach forward and grab hold of his daughter's hand to drag her away to her punishment, Toph held up two fingers to her mouth.

"Sh-Sh-ssssshhhhh…"

Out of pure punch-drunkenness from the blows reality was delivering them, both parents obeyed the odd command to be silent. An intense look of deep focus appeared on the girl's face, smile gone and replaced with a small frown of concentration, and her head tilted to the side as if she were listening for something.

"You hear that?"

Total silence. Their daughter stayed perfectly still, waiting. Gradually, having been allowed a respite from chaos to actually _think_, it dawned upon Lao what was wrong about this state of affairs.

Raising a hand to one of her ears, his daughter spoke, "Nothing. No footsteps down the hall, not the girly screams of your servants running around like pig-chickens with their heads cut off, not the thumpity-thump of your dunder-headed, overpaid estate guards racing to save your sorry butt," beneath the bangs which hung over her eyes, Toph's frown morphed until she wore a positively wicked grin, "Do you know why you can't hear any of these things, Dad? It's because this morning,"

Suddenly, before either he or Poppy could react, their daughter twitched her chin upwards and cones of earth drove their way _through the oak-spruce floors_ to encase man and wife in perfect casts up to their noses.

"_I _happened to 'em."

Both of them were completely immobile, glued into the position that they were in moments before. Breathing heavily through his open nostrils, Lao watched the girl with wide eyes. He couldn't turn his head but he thought he had heard a squeak -

"Aw, Mom, I'm touched that you'd faint for little ol' me."

Shocked, his eyes focused onto Toph, and he felt his stomach performing somersaults.

Holding up and waving her hands around, "Don't panic, don't panic! No one's _dead_. I'm not a _complete _bitch. Besides, Twinkletoes made me promise to use the kid gloves, and _trust me_, nothing puts that guy into rage mode quite like cold-blooded murder. I'd like to keep my _soul _intact, thank you."

_What… what… what… ? _Lao's mind seemed to be stuck in a loop, not knowing which _wrong thing_ to grasp at. The bizarrely aggressive behavior? The absurdly reckless earthbending? The disgusting vulgarity? What she was _actually saying_?

"Right, let's get down to business," and, without turning her head to face him, she pointed directly at his face, "This is my half-minute notice that I'm moving out. I'm the Greatest Earthbender Who Ever Lived. I've got _things _to do, _people _to save, small countries to conquer. G'bye. I'll miss you _dearly_. Not."

Then she moved her head so that her filmed-over eyes were looking directly into his own, _somehow_.

"This is also my fair warning, _just for you_, Pops," she articulated, "'cause I _know _that what I just said didn't pierce your thick skull. If you do anything _stupid_, like, I don't know, _send bounty hunters after me_, at the _very _least, _don't _pay them anything up front. I'm telling you right now, they suck. I don't need to know who they are; unless one of them's a kid my age with some swanky blue tats, they don't stand a chance. Also,"

She lightly heeled the floor with one of her (bare?) feet, and a raised platform - which Lao felt was disproportionate to the almost gentle tap of the child's foot - smashed its way through the now totally destroyed floor. Toph was lifted up so that she stood at his height, and he became aware of the sweat gathered on his brow. How he wished he could wipe it off with his sleeve…

Misty green eyes glared straight past and through his head as she scowled. Her finger was still pointed at his face.

"_Don't _deal with the Fire Nation in your pathetic efforts to capture me. Ever. Or I _will _be back, and you _will not _like it. I've got a zero tolerance policy for that kind of shenanigans."

With each pause, she jabbed her finger forward, making Lao go cross-eyed as he watched it. When she was finished, she backed off and was back to smiling.

"Well, that was fast! Wish I could stay, but I gotta run; I had to keep it under the length of an autolift pitch."

Lao was briefly jarred by the meaningless expression.

Toph stopped at some unknown cue. Then she mumbled to herself, "Oh. Right. That turn of phrase ain't invented yet. Whoops."

Shaking her head, she continued, "I meant that I had to keep it brief, get it? I've got a _schedule _to keep."

With that, she _stomped_.

The platform she was standing on instantly launched upwards in an enormous pillar, demolishing the roof of his home as it went. The morning sun shone through and debris rained down from the freshly created hole in the ceiling.

And Lao was left staring at the new stone fixture, unable to look anywhere else until his earthbending servants woke up from being knocked out and got him out of his impromptu prison.

_Where did I go wrong? _he wondered pitifully.

His daughter, for one reason or another, was out of control. And, from what he had heard her say, he had a heavy impression that it was because she had become irrecoverably mentally ill. Wild dreams of the outside world he _knew _that she had never been to before, having raised her all her life within the closed walls of the compound. An over-inflated view of her own earthbending prowess. Even a made-up friend (the one she called 'Twinkletoes'). It was the worst case scenario, representing every dark fear he had harbored. His fragile daughter was in danger, the world would break her, and, in addition, if it ever got out that _she's Lao Beifong's daughter_, his reputation would be utterly ruined.

Muffled noises came from somewhere behind and to his left. _Poppy_.

_So she _is _safe, _he thought with some relief.

A grumbling noise sounded in his ears.

Lao's brow furrowed in distress.

… _I have to go to the bathroom…_

* * *

Just outside of Gaoling, strolling into a lovely clearing, feeling the cool grass between her toes and the damp ground with the soles of her feet, Toph jauntily whistled random notes.

_It feels _great _to be young again_.

Upon thinking this, she paused, standing still. The melody settled on a sentimental tune.

_Winter, Spring; Summer and Fall~_ _There it is. The story of our lives._

She stopped blowing air between her lips and huffed air past her bangs, feeling a little melancholy.

_Just so many seasons going by. Dangit. And I was in such a good mood._

Her life, _their _lives, were a joke, and the punchline was _not funny_. Because she knew that she was young _now_. But it was only a matter of time before she'd wake up and, surprise!, she was a sack of old bones and there were _creatures_ rolling around in her front yard and she had an irrepressible urge to yell at them to _get off her lawn_ and then go have tea with the thick-skinned one that stuck around and wasn't afraid to break rules and then share eternal wisdom with the brat. And then she'd blink _again_ and she'd be _right back at monkeyfeathering square one._

_It could've been worse_.

She could've been in it alone.

Shivering, she ground her teeth and stomped the ground in frustration, causing a minor earthquake in the area.

_What in the courts of hell am I moping about!?_

It was _her _turn. _Her _turn to call the shots and steer the wheel of destiny. _Her _turn to decide what the world would look like. That was like… a _winter solstice _celebration or a _birthday _or something. For one of _them_, anyway. _Actual _winter solstices were like watching a day go by. _Days _were like seconds ticking on a clock.

_Speaking of which…_

Starting up her marching again, she finished crossing the clearing and began hiking the mountainous terrain north of the city in earnest. She had an appointment to get to.

_This is going to be fun, _she thought to herself firmly, _approximately 9,000 times more awesome than the powderpuffs I just ditched, _that's _for sure._

That put a grin back on her face.

She knew which buttons she could have pushed to make them see her for who she is the _quick way_, of course. She'd done it before. The problem was:

1) The _quick way_ took a depressingly long amount of time and energy.

2) Like the _others_ in Aang's merry band of time-travelers, she thrived on originality, which Mommy and Daddy lacked, _big time_. They were boring people with _very _boring personalities and desires. At least to begin with.

_No bigger wet blanket than that._

So, although she _did _have a _minor _soft spot for her parents, she wasn't willing to do _all _the work of making the relationship happen. _They _were going to have to do some soul searching, _themselves_.

_Just like the first time._

In a way, it made it feel more real.

She frowned and stopped again, this time in the midst of the forest covering the slopes leading up to the mountain range.

_Walking's too slow. I'm _late_._

* * *

It was a beautiful day to die.

The sky was cold and bright, and even though the sky was clear, the sunlight was weak and brought no warmth - an alien concept to many men of the Fire Nation who never experienced true winter. And winter _was _coming to this place; it became considerably colder at these higher altitudes during this time of year than at the base. The path was well-trod; the most direct route from Gaoling to Omashu without crossing the Si Wong Desert or the Banyan Swamp was over the hill and through the plains. The light bathed the east side of the mountain, and a gentle breeze blew through the dying leaves of the forest bordering the path, prompting a shower of reds and yellows and oranges. They fell with many a whisper, sounding like the ghosts of the spirit world greeting him.

Shi stood rigid, feeling numb, knowing his fate.

_What a beautiful day to die._

Colonel Mongke, firebender specialist, sat upon his komodo rhino mount, smirking, no doubt, at the thought of the money which would soon fill his coffers, "You are wanted by the Fire Nation for desertion."

It was simple, Shi's fate. It was decided a long time ago, by Fire Lord Azulon. One thousand gold pieces are paid out by the military to anyone who brings back a deserter's head.

Usually, that was deterrent enough.

Not for Jeong Jeong. But at least _he _was a master firebender, and could defend himself.

Not Shi. He wasn't even a _bender _to begin with.

But he still left.

The other members of the renowned Rough Rhinos emerged from their previously hidden places along the road. Kahchi, Ogodei, Vachir, Yeh-Lu.

"Desertion is an act of treason," the leader continued.

Not for the first time, he pondered the wisdom of that decision.

He wasn't the first one in the forty-first infantry division to become more desperate than they were sane. It had become a madhouse of paranoid soldiers since the slaughter nearly three years ago. _No one _trusted the higher-ups. They got a reputation as a 'problem' division, and were moved from the outskirts of Ba Sing Se to the Southwest Theatre. New recruits weren't sent to the forty-first division anymore. 'Undesirable Numbers' were, now. 'Dishonored' citizens. Political inconveniences. Every week was a constant stream of blood and death; the Southwest was perhaps the most contested area in the Earth Kingdom aside from Ba Sing Se. They were sent on raiding missions, and it was very much a thing of luck to get out of one alive. Many others before Shi got to the point where the killing and dying was just too much. They wanted out. They were all wretches and they wanted _out_. But there was this _rule_…

Mongke scraped his wrist guards against each other, "The penalty is death."

The Rough Rhinos circled him. Shi stared at the fist aimed at him by the leader, and absently thought of all the dry kindling surrounding them in the form of dead leaves. Undoubtedly, a fire started here would burn uncontrollably.

_Shame. It's beautiful, here._

According to the Fire Nation's military policy, if one is declared insane by the division physician, then one no longer needs to serve; he or she would receive an honorable discharge and be allowed to go home. Since one had to be crazy to go on a mission in the forty-first division, all that one had to do was ask. However, in so asking, according to the official rules, that marks oneself as sane due to showing concern for one's own safety. And if one is sane and able-bodied one must fight, or one is a traitor.

If you fight, you're crazy and don't have to fight.

When you opt to not fight, you're sane and you have to fight.

If you desert, you're a traitor for being sane and avoiding battle before you're crazy for running into the teeth of a mercenary group or elite cavalry team like the Rough Rhinos, so the penalty for that was the customary death sentence.

It was a beautiful, simple system.

Gold, merciless eyes narrowed, fist punching forward, fire flaring into existence, and Shi was abruptly aware of a wetness on his face.

All he ever wanted was to not die.

Flames rushed forward in an expanding cloud, and Shi closed his eyes tightly, hunching in on himself and covering his face with his arms. He let out a squeak of fear.

Only for the heat to abruptly vanish.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNGGGGG!"

_That sounded like… the colonel…?_

Opening his eyes, he peeked over his upraised arm.

Something… Well, _something_ was happening to Mongke.

The colonel was looking directly upwards, bending backwards slightly. Where his arms were previously in an attacking pose, now they were flung open in a wide T-shape. His nose ring was sticking out at an odd angle, not falling where it ought to have naturally. His pierced earlobes were strange, too, elongated as if they were being pulled downwards. Shi couldn't see the colonel's face, but, based off of the whimpers, he guessed that Mongke was experiencing quite a bit of pain.

There was no frame of reference for what was happening; Shi's brain was completely unable to place what was going on. Feeling confused, he looked around, standing in place as he turned his head.

From the looks on the other Rough Rhinos, they had no idea what was happening to their leader, either.

"Ya know, you're so much fun," a high pitched voice called out fondly.

The voice came from _behind _Colonel Mongke, and Shi was stunned by the occurrence, because that sounded like... _What… a little girl…?_

The dissonance of the situation was temporarily interrupted as bare footsteps sounded against the ground. The owner of the child's voice came into view, walking around the leader's komodo rhino.

She _was _a little girl. Black hair bundled up into a bun with bangs hanging low, and wearing an earthbender warrior's get-up. At a guess, he placed her at thirteen years old, maximum. Curiously, she had her arm outstretched, fingers splayed out, in the direction of Colonel Mongke.

Then he noticed the tigershark smile on her face.

"It's just, you have these pieces of _metal_… in so _many_, amazingly painful places. And when I see you, _every time_… "

_No… it can't be… _Shi jerked his head back and forth between the two, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Judging by the conspicuous lack of deadly objects being hurled at the little girl, the rest of the Rough Rhinos were in a similar state of shock.

"... Well. A target like _that_? I'm sorry, but that's _totally impossible _for me to resist, sonny."

From behind him, he heard the twirl of a metal chain, and he _ducked_.

Shi curled himself up into a ball, head down, as soon as Ogodei launched his bolo at the self-proclaimed _metalbender_. So, he never _saw_. But the audio information was _plenty_.

The sound of the jangling chain switched directions.

"Hmm. Your minions are kinda idiots, aren't they?"

A whimper issued from the leader.

The chain wrapped around something.

"AAAaarrrgghhh!" Ogodei yelled.

Correction, _someone_.

Then he heard an arrow slicing through the air… but no accompanying thump indicating that it landed.

"Anyways, back to you… I mean, _come on_, man. _That_? Seriously?"

She must've _done _something, because the colonel cried out, "YAAAAAAHHHHHHNNNGGG!"

Then the ground was shaking and the komodo rhinos started making fearful noises.

"I mean, just, wow. _Wow_. Really."

The whizz of an arrow going back where it came from; there was a snap of string.

_The bow… Vachir's bow…_

"I… I don't even _get _it. No one would _see_ it. Except… oh."

There was an odd sliding sound, and there was a muffled shout.

Shi struggled to comprehend, and it dawned when he heard the rattles of a suit of armor. Yeh-Lu, the grenadier. Who was _completely covered in metal_.

_What did she _do _to him?_

"You tryin' to impress the _ladies _or something? Show 'em how _tough _the big bad cavalryman is?"

One of the komodo rhinos charged, and Shi knew it was because the only one of the Rough Rhinos who wasn't incapacitated yet was also the only one of them that _wasn't _a long-range specialist.

Kahchi, the wielder of the guan dao.

There was a whistling sound as the blade was presumably sliced forward… interrupted by a _crunch_.

"Well… shucks. Congrats, macho man. I'm sure they all thought you were _super tough_, honey."

The earthquake which had been rumbling in the background ratcheted up in intensity. Shi tipped over until he was curled up on his side, and there was a _thump_ as one of the warriors was jostled off of his mount.

"But if you wanted to impress someone with your tolerance, you shoulda gone to Huifang's House of Hurt. It woulda been a lot less painful than what I'm about to do to you and your _boy's club_."

What followed that pronouncement was not a battle.

No.

It was _pure chaos_.

* * *

The deserter was frozen in place.

Silence.

There really had been no way to parse what was going on, before. It was just screams and panicking steeds and an earthquake all in one. Soon, however, everything went quiet.

Shi kept his head down.

"Hey."

_If I stay still, maybe she'll think I'm dead…_

"Wuss. I just pulled your butt outta the fire. Because of _me_, now you can say you're the _third guy _to desert the Fire Nation Army and live. How sweet is that, huh?"

_Goawaygoawaygoaway…_

Her voice was coming from directly above him, now. "Pfff. Fine. I've got places to go, anyway. I'm not here to listen to you wax poetic with your whining, bub. You think you're the only one in the world with problems?"

Shi shifted his head to glimpse upwards.

Fogged-over gray-green eyes greeted him.

_She's… She's _blind_. Agni above…!_

"Oh, good. Now at least you're lookin' at me. Ya need to be able to describe me to the rest of the bar, anyhow," she grinned cheerfully. The girl had a bag hefted over her left shoulder, now, where before she wasn't carrying anything (_No travelling supplies? Why? How?_).

He looked around, wanting to have a better grasp on what happened during the fight.

The komodo-rhinos were all gone. Understandable. He felt like running, too.

Then he caught sight of the pile of bodies further behind the girl. All the Rough Rhinos, with the leader slumped on top.

_Somehow_ the girl must've sensed where he was looking, because she waved her free hand dismissively and answered the unasked question with, "Unconscious."

Shi barely knew where the words came from, but they were blurted out, nonetheless.

"Who _are _you?"

A smirk.

"To you? I'm just a Blind Bandit."

Then she dropped the bag she had been holding in front of him, and Shi startled at the solid _thump_ and the chingling of a bag full of coin.

"Alright, here's what you're gonna do…"


	4. Something Odd's Going On

Kanna felt numb while her fingers automatically went through the motions of sewing. Knowing that that wasn't a good sign and usually heralded fingers getting stabbed, she decided to stop for a moment and looked up at the other occupant in the tent.

Sokka, sitting across from her in the hut, was imitating her, hands flying with thread and needle.

_Sokka_.

And he wasn't just aping her, either. _She _was working on a tunic. _He _was working on pants. And he wasn't doing a half-bad job of it, from what she could see.

If this didn't convince her of their midnight-sun-induced story, nothing on this earth ever would.

"That child is really the Avatar?"

The teenager had his eyes focused on his task, clearly thinking about something else entirely, but he nodded his head absently, "Yep. The one and only."

Then he focused onto his grandmother, glancing up when he got to a stopping point and quipping with some humor, "But don't say that to anyone who comes by asking."

Then he was back at it again.

Kanna huffed at the boy's cheek, but segued into another question.

"And you know this because… You've already lived your life? You and your sister?"

"Yeah," came the short answer as Sokka navigated a tricky portion of the britches.

She was silent for a short while, absorbing that.

The young man stopped again, this time setting his work aside… the _finished _pants. To be fair, it was just one of Sokka's older pair of leggings being refitted for the twelve-year-old newcomer, but _still_.

Blue eyes twinkled, and he made a dry observation, "I think you want to ask a different question."

_What happened to 'sewing is a woman's job'?_

She had her work cut out for her to keep from exploding, "_What_... are _you... doing_...in _here_?"

_Sewing? _she wanted to tack on.

"Instead of Katara, you mean?" he asked shrewdly. He nodded towards the hut's entryway, indicating the outside, "She's a master waterbender, now. She's outside with Aang making new houses for everyone."

Sitting back at the profoundly sensible answer, Kanna shook her head, still unable to fully grasp the repercussions of this… _second chance _that Sokka and Katara were apparently granted.

"In your previous life… when did you learn… and why?"

He shrugged, "Well, when the wife is away and one of your kids tears a hole in their tunic, _something's _gotta be done, right?"

Old wrinkles that hadn't seen much use lately went up in a smile.

Then the young man pointed at her unfinished tunic, "You gonna do more, or should I?"

His grandmother wordlessly handed over the pile, and in no time Sokka was fiddling away with the thread.

Speaking again, "There is one thing you should know about."

"Oh?" she murmured.

"Everything will be fine. No more deaths will come of the war for the Southern Water Tribe. That's a promise."

That jolted her, eyes going wide in shock.

_My goodness! It didn't even _occur _to me to ask about that! _she wondered, thoughts racing and euphoria blooming within her heart.

"Please don't try to hug me. I'm holding a sharp, pointy object right now."

* * *

Jee listened to the others at the mess-hall table while he quietly ate his plain noodles.

Yao, komodo-rhino caretaker, was attempting to dispel the pall of cabin-fever that had fallen over most of the rest of the crew by talking. A lot.

"It was _huge_! I never saw a bigger one in my life!" he yammered. The hot potato-carrot jook in front of him sat untouched.

The ship's engineer, Xing, was humoring the chatterbox, nodding along while resting his head in his hand, elbow propped on the table next to Jee's eating mat. His bowl was also full of uneaten food.

"Uh-huh," he mumbled.

"That turtleseal just sat there looking at me for a minute, and then it gave a croak and started to waddle off towards the edge of the iceberg-"

Li-Wei, one of the crew's firebending seamen, was sitting across from Jee, shaking his head and muttering to himself in annoyance. He leaned over and smacked Yao on the back of the head.

"Hey! What was _that _for!"

"Stop talking, you moron. You're embarrassing yourself."

Sputtering, "What? What are you talking about? You think that I'm lying? I'm _telling you_, I _saw _it yesterday-!"

"Turtleseals live in the _North Pole_, meathead!"

That shut him up.

"... Really?"

"_Yeah_, Yao. _Really _really."

"Oh."

"Yeah, '_oh_'."

"Well, why didn't anyone _say _anything!?" he cried indignantly.

Li-Wei made a mocking guess, "Because it was fun to watch you make a fool of yourself all day with your tall tales?"

The animal caretaker growled, before turning his accusing gaze to the person across from him, "What about _you_?"

At the questioning tone in his voice, Xing jumped a little, "Huhwhat?"

"You just want me to look dumb? That why you let me talk while you're sittin' there?"

Xing stared at him like he was speaking gibberish, "... What?"

Yao, who looked like he was about to launch into a tirade, clammed up at the unexpected nonresponse, blinking.

Li-Wei simply raised an eyebrow.

The engineer narrowed his own eyes, this time asking more pointedly, "What? There somethin' on my face?"

Jee set his bowl down, looking at his neighbor in concern, "... Are you alright?"

Xing moved out of his resting pose, sitting upright, giving the Lieutenant a sidelong glance, "I'm fine. Why?"

"You seem kinda… out of it."

Interjecting, Yao guffawed, breaking out of his funk with his voice warbling like he was about to weep, "You weren't even listening in the first place!? You guys are the _worst_!"

Thoroughly vexed by the peanut gallery, Li-Wei did not afford the pathological liar any leeway. He cracked his knuckles, and brief jets of fire blew from his nose as he growled, "Shut up, you, or I'll knock your block off."

"Hey," Jee interrupted, eyeing the two of them, "Settle down. I don't deal with that kind of roughhousing on this ship. You screw around like that and you're in the brig, you get me Li-Wei?"

The Lieutenant's word was law, being the third in command after General Iroh and Prince Zuko.

A pink tinge colored the firebender's cheeks, but he held his superior's gaze.

"Yes sir."

"And you," he directed towards the animal caretaker, "If you don't want to get into trouble, don't lie to everyone's faces all day long and then whine and moan when you find out that some of them have _learned _to pay no attention to you. Understand?"

Cowed by the much bigger man, Yao settled down, nodding contritely.

Awkward silence followed, interrupted by a cough from Li-Wei. Everyone else at the table looked to him.

Then he gestured at the table, giving a significant look towards Xing, "You haven't touched your food since you sat down… And you haven't been motormouthing like hay-for-brains."

Yao looked like he was about to say something about that, but glanced across the table and slowly closed his mouth while Jee kept a steady gaze on him.

Xing sighed in answer to all the poking and prodding, "I'm just thinking about something… weird… that happened earlier today."

"Sounds riveting," Jee commented, switching from looking at Yao to directing an inquiring look at his seating partner, "What was it?"

Eyebrows lowered in faint consternation, "Prince Zuko came down to the engine room earlier."

* * *

The first thing that Shi did after walking dazedly into the roadside tavern was immediately order a round for everyone there. He had the money for it; the metalbender looted the Rough Rhinos' unconscious bodies, and the money she found was gifted to him for that exact purpose of gossip, because there existed no better way to get the benevolent attention of all within earshot. He didn't question how apparently a twelve-year-old girl was aware of this. He just did what the extremely scary earthbender told him to do.

He was also warned that the area to the north was full of bounty hunters, and that he really should turn around _yesterday _and head to Gaoling… for health reasons. When he asked why he couldn't just head northwest through the Plains or go east to the Misty Palms Oasis, the girl had said something to the effect of, "Only if you wanna hang from a tree, hon." and, "The mercenary capital of the Earth Kingdom has a sucky tourist industry.", respectively.

_People must really hate Fire Nationals around there, _he had thought with some sarcasm, _I wonder why?_

So here he was.

"Hey, everyone! Drinks on me!"

And everyone cheered.

The second thing he did was tell his story. That wasn't hard. Every detail of the encounter was burned into his mind. The little lady specified that she wanted to get a reputation as a larger-than-life heroine.

_Wish granted._

He was only alive because of her, after all.

Thankfully, the blind girl told him that he was free to throw out any details implicating himself, for which he was _most grateful to the Greatest Earthbending Mistress In The World._

"So there I was, minding my own business on the road from Gaoling, when suddenly… the Rough Rhinos showed up!... and then…"

"... but when I thought I was gonna _die_, the fire went out and the captain screamed!..."

"... there was a girl… No, you _idiot_, a _little _girl, she was a kid!..."

"... Somehow, she bent the _metal _in the guy's _piercings_ and… oh spirits…"

"... she was _blind_. Blind! She said that… she was a _Blind Bandit_."

The third and final thing Shi did that night was skip the sake and go straight to drinking the local supply of cactus juice until he was bombed out of his gourd.

"Did he drink that thing _before _or _after _he started talking about metalbending?"

Shrugs all around.

* * *

They were all gathered outside of the newly restored village walls.

The Avatar stood away from the main group near the flying bison's head, giving the Water Tribe siblings some space. The clothing he wore did its job; he was the very image of a member of the Southern Water Tribe. He wore a blue parka, for now, but when they got away from the cold and started getting further north, he'd start wearing clothes more appropriate for warmer weather. Bandages covered his (for now) bald head to cover the tattoo.

Sokka and Katara stood in front of the small crowd of women and children with their grandmother.

"We love you, Gran Gran," Katara offered warmly, drawing the little old woman into a hug, "We love you so much. We'll be back; we'll see you again."

Then she pulled back to look at her in the eyes.

"That healing session I gave you should help with the aches you've been having. Try and exercise a little bit each day; a walk around the village should be good. Also, remember that when you eat meat, try to stick to freshwater fish. Eat lots of sea prunes. When we get to the North Pole, we'll send healers so that you can get a regular physical therapy, too, okay?"

Kanna nodded to indicate that she understood the directions, and what they implied about herself. She knew what was coming; she'd seen it claim many elders in her time. Ordinarily, waterbending healing was enough to flush out the toxins which caused arthritis, but there hadn't been any such waterbenders in the South Pole for decades. Obviously, in Katara and Sokka's first life, they had to deal with their grandmother falling ill, and were now pre-empting the disease's onset.

_Clever children, _she thought fondly as Katara stepped away.

Then Sokka stepped forward.

When he got close… _close enough that the other villagers wouldn't hear_, Kanna realized…

"We missed you, you know," Sokka whispered, "We _will_ miss you."

_It's been decades since we've last seen you. But we're leaving again._

Stepping forward, she gathered both of the (not?) children in her arms, and they both returned the gesture.

She tightened her hold of her two _amazing _grandchildren.

"I'm so _proud_ of you two, and… " she tried to say what she was feeling, but she lacked the words.

"We know," Sokka assured. And for a while they stood together.

Then one of the children in the group by the village entrance - a girl, Buniq - rushed forward with a cry and latched onto Katara's legs. The three of them were jostled out of their embrace.

"Don't go!" came the first muted demand.

Then she turned her head towards the airbender child, Aang, who was still standing further away, and looked back up at Katara, before switching her gaze to Sokka, pleading, "Don't go, I'll miss you."

Clearly, those eyes were too much for the Avatar to handle, because he leaped forward and swept the girl into an embrace with a wide smile, and she gave a surprised laugh. He looked over at the crowd of kids who were fidgeting ever since one of their number had been brave enough to break ranks.

"Come 'ere! One last big hug!"

And there was a small avalanche of children rushing forward. The Avatar gave an 'oof' as he was tackled beneath a pile of little bodies, laughing.

Kanna watched the interaction with no small amount of wonder.

_He's perfect._

Katara's voice caused her to jump, "... I know."

_Did I say that out loud?_

The old woman turned her attention her granddaughter… and wasn't sure what to make of what she saw.

She looked sad. Frowning slightly. Something tired in her eyes as she watched the world's last hope for peace tell the only children left in the South Pole that everything would be _fine_ and he'd be back, just to see them. The young woman watched this… and, to Kanna's mystification, there was only exhaustion in her frame.

* * *

Katara waved from the back of Appa's saddle at the receding crowd of cheering villagers calling out goodbyes and well wishes.

When they were gone from sight, she lowered her hand and turned around, closing her eyes and sighing.

"Are you _sure _that there's no way to reverse Gran's aging just a _little_?"

Her eye twitched, "_Yes_, Sokka." She knew. She tried. _Hundreds of times_. "The technology to extend her life just doesn't exist yet."

"But-"

"Look," she opened her eyes and glared at her brother, "Every life, we have this conversation. The answer _isn't changing_. She's _too old_. My regenerative healing _doesn't work_ when the HM is too deteriorated. I _didn't _magically come up with a solution to that problem in the four months between your death and mine."

Sokka didn't lean back at her suddenly aggressive demeanor. He didn't react to her speech at all. He just looked at her. Serious.

She couldn't keep looking at that. Letting out a breath, she shook her head, "Sokka… sorry, you're right. I'm just… irritated. _Someday_, I'll probably come up with something. Someday. You know how it is. Anything's possible when… when you can research something _forever_. Just… not this time. Sorry."

Her brother looked down into his criss-crossed lap, "It's okay. I get it. And _when _you figure it out… well, it'll probably just extend her life by a decade or so, right? Just… don't give up hope, okay?" he gave a scoff, and looked up at the sky in disbelief at himself, "_I'm _giving the hope speech," he muttered. He turned his head so that one eye was on his sister, "_You're _supposed to be the _hope speech_ giver."

Katara giggled at his attempt at humor.

She glanced away, looking towards the front.

Aang sat on the crown of Appa's head, reins in hand. She knew that he could hear what they were saying. But he hadn't said anything.

… _Aang…_

The air between them wasn't clearing up. It still felt heavy. Too weighted-down with time.

… _We're tired._

The thought came unbidden, but it wasn't a surprise when it came.

* * *

Jee went still at that news, but Li-Wei leaned forward in interest.

"What? Sounds bizarre already. What would that brat be doing in the _engine room_?"

Xing brought a hand up to scratch his beard, "Well…"

* * *

"Fireman Xing!"

It was a good thing that his shovel hadn't been laden with coal, otherwise there would've been an unholy mess to clean up.

_Prince Zuko!?_

As it was, he dropped what he was doing with a start before whipping up and around to a rigid attention.

"Sir!" nervously shouted.

_What's _he _doing here!? Oh, spirits… _his eyes darted over to the wall next to the doorway that the Prince was entering through. It was covered in some… very unflattering caricatures of the illustrious captain of the _Huoling_. Involving komodo rhinos and various anatomically impossible positions.

_You've _got _to be _joking_! _he screamed in his mind.

In nearly three years the brat had never set foot down here; it was _supposed_ to be a _Zuko-free _zone! He looked away from the crude drawings out of self-preservation, as it wouldn't do to draw the kid's attention to them.

Oh, who was he kidding?

_I'm dead._

As if he could hear his internal pronouncement, the prince smiled. "At ease," he said, holding up a placating hand.

Xing tried to relax out of attention, but he was too stiff with existential fear. As had been usual for the last couple of days, the engineer's attention was drawn not to the giant scar, but to the prince's conspicuous haircut. His ponytail/phoenix plume/whatever… gone. It was _still_ completely weird. The first time he saw it, he almost didn't recognize him. If it weren't for his _other _extremely distinguishing feature, he bet that he _wouldn't _have.

… _just… why? _his muddled thoughts pushed forward, before his attention was snagged by the captain taking a further step forward into the engine room.

"What is the status of things down here? Everything running smoothly?"

… _What?_

"Er… the engine…?"

"Yes, fireman. The engine. Give me a full diagnosis."

While it _was _customary for the captain of a ship to ask such things on occasion… not on _this _ship. Usually, Xing gave such reports to the Lieutenant, who'd report to General Iroh, then _he'd _say something to his nephew if something was urgent… because _they _were the ones who actually cared about the day-to-day functions of the crew. The _princess _was typically being a brat somewhere up on deck, pouting about his avatar or flinging fire around at one or two of the soldiers.

… _not now._

He quit trying to analyze the situation and just rolled with it.

Half an hour later, the prince was nodding and humming as the engineer finished with the engine check.

"So, it looks like we're going to have to purchase some more fuel at our next stop, but otherwise, everything looks fine?"

Untangling himself from some of the pipes, and without turning away from the machine, Xing gave a stiff shrug.

"... yes, sir," he affirmed, still trying to figure out _what _this was all about.

"Alright, if it is as you say, we will buy some more coal at Whale Minor. Good work," Prince Zuko's voice said.

It was the prince's voice, but the engineer felt that he ought to check. Turning around in bewilderment, he could only look at the young captain, eyes wide.

The kid calmly returned his look, that strange smile still on his face.

_He's serious._

"Keep that up. The ship is depending on you," he finished, before turning around and freezing.

Xing recoiled.

_Oh, COME ON-!_

But, instead of turning back and reaming him the way he expected, the young man… walked forward and out the door.

Completely ignoring the filthy cartoons that were in _plain view_.

For a long time, he just numbly stood there, before something occurred to him.

_That smile he had on this whole time… was normal, _he realized. On anyone else, it would've looked normal.

Prince Zuko wearing a normal smile was _not normal_.

Shaken, the engineer stumbled forward, picked up a rag and started furiously scrubbing away at the charcoal marring the wall.

* * *

Yao was clearly stunned by the conclusion of the story, giving his head a shake and staring harder at the engineer across from him.

"No _way_."

Arms folded and leaning back in his chair, Li-Wei frowned.

"That… _is _really weird. Do you know why…?"

"_I _have no idea," holding his arms up in a defensive posture, "It just… _happened_. He came in, asked how I was doing, wished me well, and left. I mean… _just that _would've been okay, I guess. I _might _have been able to swallow that the prince was scolded or something by the General, and was _forced _to do something nice or something… _but_… what happened at the end… no. Just, _no_. I don't _believe _it."

Narrowing his eyes, the soldier was blunt, "Me neither… I mean," he said quickly, seeing how that might've been taken differently, "I believe you, I do! It's just… _what_? Where did that _come _from?"

Looking across the table, Li-Wei noticed that the Lieutenant was a bit pale, and immediately knew that his superior had some idea of what was going on, "Hey, _you_ know something! Do you know what's going on?"

Feeling uncomfortable, Jee reached up to tug on the collar of his uniform, "Uh… yeah. Maybe."

Yao pounced, "What? You _know_? Wait, is any of this related to… to Zuko's…" he gestured at his own skullcap to indicate the prince's new hairstyle.

Sighing, the officer affirmed, "I think so. _And _I _might _know something about what's going on. _But_," he held up a finger to forestall any more gossip digging, "The General very specifically made me swear an oath to Agni not to speak about what happened."

Looking around at the other three, making eye contact with each person, "I'm serious. I'll take it up with the General and see if he's changed his mind, but I _can't _say anything. Understood?"

Old Xing was looking at him intently, "What _can _you say?"

Jee eyed him cautiously. He _didn't _want to leave the rest of the crew unprepared if something more _off_ happened, but he was a loyal soldier and wouldn't break an oath to Iroh, "I can say that… _something _happened to Prince Zuko. Earlier, while we were further south. And that it might be why he's acting strange now. And that you probably should be _careful_," he stressed, wanting to get that point across, "But that's _it_. I won't say anymore."

With that, the Lieutenant stood up and headed towards the barracks, leaving a table of spooked sailors behind.

* * *

"Nowr _dat_…*hic* wash a gret shtoreh."

"Hear hear!"

Everyone agreed that it was a _excellent _story, and it wasn't just the flow of free alcohol talking.

The bartender absently rubbed a clay mug with a dirty rag while he listened to the others in his bar rehash the tale.

"That Shi fella sure does have a way with words."

"Best thing I heard all month!"

The bartender was in agreement with that sentiment. It was very well told, and the man who stumbled in for a strong drink was obviously a gifted orator.

There was only one complaint that most of the bar patrons felt was deserved criticism: The story was _far _too fantastical to be believed.

"Sheesh. Dry that out and I could fertilize the whole farm!"

"Eh, sure, he _did_ lay that on a bit thick, didn't he? Give 'im a break, though, yeah? It was _good_."

Yes, it was certain that the man needed to tone down the exaggeration; it was clearly overkill. No one would believe it.

Except, well:

That was how everyone felt until the news came in.

The doors to the saloon slammed open.

"Have you guys _heard_!? Someone beat the _hells_ outta the Rough Rhinos!"

All of the patrons in the building froze. This resulted in several mugs getting emptied onto chins and down shirts.

The bartender set down his washrag.

"... Who did it?"

The man who announced the shocking development was unsure what everyone's reaction meant, but he answered the question after only a small hesitation, "You're not gonna believe this, but… people are saying that it was some… earthbending child. A girl."

And then the man laughed a little, shaking his head at what he was about to say:

"And that she can bend _metal_. But, well, _that's _not true… Uh… guys?"

Every head in the room, with the exception of the person who just entered, turned to look at the pile of limbs and smelly clothing sitting in the corner.

"... Well," the bartender uttered faintly, "Yeah. We mighta heard something about that."


	5. Broken People

Iroh slowly came out of his afternoon nap, and when he became awake enough, he gazed up at the metal ceiling of his sleeping quarters in a contemplative mood.

_How things have changed._

It took a few moments to adjust to the new reality, because it still felt like a dream. He felt the urge to get out of his bed and see for himself. Just for a double-check. He _had_ done such, in fact, yesterday. He remembered. It was quite embarrassing. He _wasn't _doing it again.

Aside from the task of simply centering himself after the revelations of a few nights ago, there were several things to account for. Plans that needed changing. In many cases, downgrading the urgency or altogether eliminating certain plans was called for. Thanks to the things his nephew had been sharing of late, it truly seemed that the White Lotus nearly had nothing at all to worry about.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door to his quarters swinging inward, and quickly closing behind the young man who entered.

"Father."

A thrill still went through Iroh at being addressed as such by his beloved nephew. It'd been nearly a decade since Lu Ten… But this was the present. This was now.

_Zuko._

"What… what are you doing here?"

The prince was smiling and carrying two bowls full of roast-duck nikudon, judging by the mouth-watering smell.

* * *

_First, they went penguin sledding._

_They laughed. They were children again._

_The clock had turned back. It was an amazing gift._

_It was heaven._

_After they tired themselves out, they stood around at the bottom of the hill, feeding and playing with the penguins for awhile. And then Aang asked about what things were like after… After._ _During their conversation, she had looked delighted. It was all wonderful, _so_ wonderful. She told him all that he asked about. About how beautiful Republic City became. About the new Avatar, Korra. About Air Temple Island. About Tenzin. His grandkids. Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, Rohan. All airbenders._

_He had been so happy._

_She never _volunteered_ any information, though._

_Because, she had said later, she needed to _know_._

"_Aang?"_

"_Yes, sweetie?"_

_Her smile seemed… strained, "Don't you have… Any other questions? About before?"_

"_No, not really. Why?" he asked, curious._

_The atmosphere became decidedly awkward after that._

"_Katara?"_

_She looked slightly dazed. "Huh. They were right."_

"_What?"_

"_I didn't believe it. I _couldn't_. I wouldn't let their words taint my memories of you. I pretended to agree with them, maybe. But… with you here, now, in front of me and breathing, _alive_, it's even more unbelievable than ever. And they were... completely right."_

_Feeling somewhat off-balance, now, Aang cautiously asked, "What are you talking about?"_

_She crossed her arms, pensive and worrying her bottom lip, before elaborating "Our children. They were right. About you."_

_He raised an eyebrow. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"_

"_Kya used to beat up Tenzin when they were just babies, and Bumi would tease him until he cried. You remember?"_

_Blinking at the apparent non-sequitur, he shrugged, "Yeah? I remember. I'm pretty sure you've grounded those two for it. Often."_

"_I did," she said softly, "I didn't understand _why_. Why they were so hard on him. Tenzin was so sweet. And when he grew up, he was so amazing. He took being the legacy of the Air Nomads _so _seriously… maybe a little _too_ seriously. But even when they were all full grown, they _wouldn't stop. _I couldn't see…"_

_Suddenly she brought a hand up to her mouth, and he was stunned to see that his wife's eyes were watering._

"_Katara," he whispered, alarmed, "What's wrong?"_

"_I can't talk to you right now. Just… I need…"_

"_Please," Aang begged, "Tell me what's the matter! I can't see you cry!" He stepped forward to place his hands on her arms. To bring her closer. To steady her. _Anything_. His heart fell when she backed away._

_Ice settled into his stomach, "What… What did I _do_?"_

"_We'll talk, Aang," she said dully, and she brought up a gloved hand to wipe away the tears before they froze on her face. Now her eyes were red. "We _need _to talk about this. But I need to be clear-headed when we do. If I do it now… I might not forgive myself for what I'd say."_

_She turned around and walked away, leaving a confused and hurt twelve-year-old-but-not behind at the base of the hill._

* * *

Aang opened his eyes, and for a moment he just stared upward at the starry night sky and listened to the water lapping the nearby rocks, losing himself in memory.

_What a thing to have a nightmare about, _he marveled.

Especially considering that he was guilty of far worse things in his many lifetimes. _This_? Was a harmless, honest mistake in comparison to those trespasses. Something that he'd long ago forgiven himself for.

He thought that demon had been laid to rest.

_Then again… _and he lightly blew air out his nose in derision at himself.

He supposed that he knew about the key difference of _that _particular sin.

That, and the… the _way _things were between him and Katara right now probably had something to do with it.

He pondered those dark injuries, wondering at how fresh the pain from those old wounds felt in the aftermath of the dream.

But he quickly stopped. He knew it wasn't spiritually healthy to stew in past regrets.

In fact, it seemed like it was just about time for a chakra spring cleaning.

_Angsting is a pretty good indicator, _he thought wryly.

It happened once every few lifetimes; some memories would never fade with time. Given the opportunity to live one's life over and over… well, one learns things about oneself. Things that, at times, Aang felt he wished he never learned about himself. But _that _kind of attitude was no way to deal with it, he knew. That was a lesson _all _of them learned. When all one has is time… It's better not to brood.

So he sat up from his horizontal position on his sleeping pad and stretched, before settling back down into a cleansing seated position.

Since it was _that _memory which was bothering him, that would be his Fire Chakra getting clogged up.

He closed his eyes and meditated on his shame.

* * *

Iroh was fascinated by this side of his nephew. He had no idea how long they'd been sitting there in Iroh's quarters just talking, and, frankly, he didn't care. It all started when Zuko came by to visit him in the evening with dinner, and they settled at the low pai-sho table and ate. Then they started talking. He couldn't even recall what the beginning of the conversation was about; that was how lost in dialogue he was right now.

"Don't you think that love is eternal?"

* * *

_That evening, he was frozen in place as he faced the onslaught._

"_You never asked about them."_

_She took a step forwards._

"_I…"_

"_You never even thought about them before I reminded you, just now, did you?"_

_Another step._

"_N-no… I…"_

"_Bumi. Kya. They just disappeared from your life when Tenzin airbended for the first time."_

_Step._

_He felt physically pained at the words which were aimed like daggers at his chest, even though she said them gently, "I loved them, Katara! How can you say… What, that I just didn't care about them?"_

_The thorny, hurtful words of his daughter echoed through his memory. _

I have no family! You can't tie me down!

_But that was just a phase, wasn't it? _

_She was just being a teenager, right? _

_Wasn't it just misdirected aggression?_

_The rationalization sounded hollow._

"_I think that you let the rest of your life take over. Being the Avatar. Teaching Air Nomad culture to Tenzin. They loved you, too, you know. More than anything, I think they just wanted to hear you say those words again. _Be _with them again." _

_Katara reached a hand up to his face._

"_Kya missed penguin sledding with you. Did you know that? She _remembered _that. That _one time _when she was five. And she said she was sad that she never did it with you again."_

_Hot trails burned their way down his cheeks, "Stop…"_

_She wrapped her arms around him, and he clutched back at her like a lifeline, "And Bumi, he _loved _the city, the _nation _that you built from the ground up. He accomplished so much; protected so many people. He did it for you. He wanted to do right by you so badly."_

_He hiccupped._

"_He thought that he disappointed you."_

_He choked, "What…? What… How could he…?"_

"_For not being an airbender."_

_His fingers dug into her back spasmodically, letting out an inarticulate cry of pain._

"_I think… Even if you couldn't admit it to yourself… That he was right."_

_She pulled back, looking at him directly, "Do you know what they told me? They told me that when they finally got around to visiting an air temple, the air acolytes there had no idea that you had two other children."_

_He couldn't look at those ocean blue eyes. Nonjudgemental. But frank. Loving. But earnest with her damning words. He buried his face into her shoulder. _

"_Aang… I won't tell you that you didn't make mistakes…"_

_It was all too much, suddenly. Being _young _again. Features unmarked by time. Being a _child_. He remembered being a child. Being _carefree._ Having _fun_. He hadn't realized it, not even on his deathbed, what he had turned into. Someone like Monk Tashi from the Southern Air Temple. Someone who was consumed with trivial make-work. Someone so burdened by thoughts of the future, of his legacy, that the present was left behind, forgotten. Someone who had no time for _important things _like playing games with his children._

_He had died with the thought that he had succeeded in his life, for the most part. That, despite his mistakes, he had made the best out of them at every turn. He had felt _content_._

_Now, he felt astonished at the magnitude of that error in thinking._

"_I… I failed…" he whispered into her parka, and the words left him gasping._

_She held on to him, rubbing his back in soothing circles and not saying anything as Aang cried until he fell asleep._

* * *

"I… I failed…"

_Yes… I _did_. I was a poor father to them; I know this, now. It was my first, and, as far as I knew at the time, my _only_ chance at getting it right. And I failed them. _Katara _raised them, not I. I burdened Tenzin with all of my attention and expectations. And in doing so, I hurt them all._

And yet the slate was wiped clean.

_I've since lived many lifetimes loving my children, _telling _them, _being _with them._

Gyatso's words, so ancient, still rang true.

_I cannot change what was. I can only affect what _is_._

He let out a breath, letting the chakra flow clear again, and opened his eyes, gazing out across the open ocean in front of him. Thinking about his spiritual health. The task of clearing his chakras.

It was easy.

Maybe too easy.

"Nightmare?"

He brought up his forearm and quickly wiped his face with his sleeve. "... Yeah."

Footsteps, then the rustle of cloth as Katara sat beside him on the sleeping mat .

Just as it was back then, all those years ago, her voice was soft, "I didn't know that still bothered you."

He shook his head in negation, albeit slowly, "No. It doesn't, really. Not anymore. But, in a way, that memory is important to me."

There was quiet for a moment as she took that statement in, then, "Because things still mattered."

_It was still possible to _feel _something back then. Anything._

How long? How long had they been together, now? A thousand years? Ten thousand?

How long did it take to realize that he was just going through motions at this point?

His eyes were dry of tears, "... I'm tired."

And it wasn't the first time.

Pause.

"... Me too," she agreed, reluctant, yet relieved.

And, without saying anything further, he knew… and he knew that _she _knew... they wouldn't be together.

In another life, perhaps.

But not this time.

* * *

"No."

"No?"

"Through the many futures I've seen, I've found that love can burn hot for awhile… but not forever. Eventually, it turns into cold ashes. Oh, the flames _can _be stoked anew. Love is a form of energy, and it always returns with a fresh start, but only after much time. The opposite of infatuation is not hate, but familiarity. So much of a romance depends on the curiosity of exploring something, _someone_ new or with hidden depths yet untouched. Only time can renew what's lost in the flame."

* * *

"Up and at 'em, sleepy head!"

One baleful eye peeked out from the wrappings, glaring at Aang's laughing ones.

Sokka was unamused.

"I will get up when I _want _to get up, and not _one second sooner_, airhead."

A troublemaking light entered those gray orbs, "Oh yeah? What about-"

"_Don't_…" the older boy sat up abruptly in his wrappings, eyes blazing with such ferocity that the Avatar blinked "even think about it. I haven't had a peaceful night's sleep for the last _decade_ since my hip started acting up. I don't carewhat you are thinking of right now. Earthquaking, shining light in my face, _live frickle snakes._ I. _do not. _care. Understand? Can you _comprehend _the words coming out of my mouth?" he was standing, now, sleeping bag and all, leaning forward and forcing the airbender to take a step back at the black look on the water tribesman's face, "If you even _think _of doing _anything like that _in the next week, it will be _war_."

"OKAY, okay!" the child shouted, nodding his head as fast and as hard as he could, eyes wide and throwing up his arms in surrender, "I get it! I'll be good, I swear!"

He'd _seen_ Sokka with the gloves off. It wasn't pretty.

Explosions. Big ones.

Katara edged in from the side into her brother's view, looking delighted, "Well, looks like you're up. Eat your breakfast: The camp won't pack itself, will it?"

He pulled a long face.

"... I hate you," he deadpanned.

"And look at how much I care!" she beamed, eyes closed, grandiose and spreading her arms expansively to indicate a huge volume. Only to pause, opening her eyes in a falsely quizzical expression and bringing up a finger to her lips in a thoughtful pose, "Oh wait, there's nothing here."

"Ha. Ha," he said in a robotic monotone, already shuffling towards the campfire.

Aang walked up to the fire and sat down with the other boy on the ground, "C'mon, Sokka, we're _camping_. We haven't bothered with that since we were kids _last _time. Aren't you excited?"

"Says the guy who can practically snap his fingers and do the packing _instantly_."

Katara came over and sat at her brother's other side.

"Hey now, ever since I learned that trick, _no one _wants to do the packing anymore," the monk rebuked, "I have to make the others in the group do it _sometime_, or they don't get the full experience!"

Scooping a bowl of stew with newly-earthbent cookware, Sokka sat back with his breakfast and looked askance at his sitting partner, before switching sides and looking at his sister.

Raising an eyebrow, he brought his bowl up to his mouth and blew on the hot soup.

His meaning was obvious, just from that, but he clarified, "I don't recall you making Katara do _any _packing. _Ever_."

Katara scoffed.

Mirroring her thought process, the airbender had an easy answer to that, "I never have to. She does her part."

At that particular wording, he snorted. "Yeah, _sure _she does. I'll bet she does her part _really well_," Sokka drawled, before closing his eyes and taking a sip from the stone bowl, missing Aang's twitch and the waterbender's eyeroll.

"Classy."

Sokka came up for air after swallowing a big mouthful, answering his sister graciously "Why, thank you."

"… Yeah, about that," the monk-child brought a hand up to rub the back of his head, "Katara and I kinda… broke up? Last night. Thought you oughta know."

Sokka stilled, his stone bowl halfway up to his mouth for a second gulp, "... What."

Katara looked across at Aang for confirmation, and at his nod, "Yeah, it's over."

The bowl dropped from numb fingers, breaking in half on the ground.

"... That was full of stew," she said flatly.

"Back up," her brother brought his hands up to his temples, pushing into them as if to head off an enormous headache, "Go back to the part where you said… What you said."

Sensing a comedic moment, the Avatar was happy to oblige while the waterbender bent the spilled food into the ocean with a twist of her arm, "Katara and I have decided that we are no longer _together_, effective immediately," he enunciated, eager to get to the punchline.

He was mumbling, talking under his breath, but the airbender caught:

"No, this can't be happening."

"Huh?" Aang intelligently queried, confused.

"_Please _tell me you're lying," he moved suddenly, grabbing the younger boy by the folds of his blue coat, fixing him with a desperate gaze "You're _joking_, right? This is a prank?"

"Um…" he looked over, and Katara gave a shake of her head in agreement with his view of the matter, "Nope. I'd say we're pretty much sure of it now. We're done."

Letting go, Sokka sank his elbows onto his knees and put his forehead onto his hands.

"No. _No_," the biologically-teenage tribesman's voice wavering in a crack, "No, _no, _NO!"

Katara put a hand on his arm, but he shook it off.

"Sokka! What is _wrong_?" she asked, half concerned, half convinced it was an act, but sharing a look with the air nomad. He lifted his shoulders in equal befuddlement.

"_NOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo…_!" he finally wailed, moving his hands to cover his face as he started to sob, "WAAAAAaaahhahaaaaaaa…! Y-you… Ohoh, _no_! _Why_?_ WHY_!?You gotta be _kidding _me! Ohohoooo, wahahohowahahaaaa! No, _no_, noho…. *gasp*... WAAAAA-"

Feeling very uncomfortable, Aang patted his back while Sokka leaned forward in abject sorrow, "Uh... everything'll be okay, I think? Don't worry about it? There, there…"

"You can't! Not _now_! Spirits, _no_! Ahuhuhuhuhuhaaaaa-"

"Wait, what? What are you talking about?" inquired Katara suspiciously, connecting that statement to her and Aang's declaration of separation, "We weren't _supposed _to break up? On _whose _schedule?"

Sniffling, Sokka muttered, "Toph's."

"_What_?" the airbender blurted, "I don't remember her saying anything _like _that at the meeting-?"

"_This has nothing to do with her obsession with world domination_!" he screeched, raising his head and confronting the other two with puffy red eyes, before flinching under their stares and continuing at normal speaking volume, "We… we made a bet… a long time ago…"

It clicked.

The Avatar was shocked. "You… you made a bet with Toph about when Katara and I would _break up_? Since _when_?"

Wiping his nose with his sleeve and seeming to recover slightly from his bout of woe, Sokka scowled, "Five lifetimes ago. Trust me, _I counted_."

"Let me guess," Katara offered dryly, "You bet we'd be together until the _very_ _next _life."

"Your wisdom knows no bounds, sis."

Aang was present enough to grasp the important part of the equation, and he leaned in intently, "What did you _bet_?"

For one of _them_, bets held absolutely no value whatsoever unless they were extremely high-risk. That was to say, nothing material would do. In fact, the only thing that mattered was:

Still-red eyes glowering, "We bet our next turn."

Quiet followed those words.

"... Wow, man," the Avatar slow-blinked as he backed off, "That is _bad_."

"What part of, 'Do not _ever _gamble with Toph.' did you miss from the last _eternity_ of dealing with her?" Katara asked in disbelief.

"I know, _I know_, okay, but I thought I had an in with this one!"

She was unimpressed with that logic, "... Right. Because you knew my relationship with my husband _so much better_ than her."

A cloud of despair settled over him, before he brightened.

"Hey, wait," he said, abruptly holding up a hand, and Aang and Katara both tensed at the tone of his voice, "What if… you guys just _pretend _that yo-"

"No."

The two simultaneous voices were equally unforgivingly level.

"_Please_?" he begged, "Just _one _lifetime! _One_!"

"Why should we do that?" Katara asked pointedly, "You _lost_. Fair and square. She deserves her win."

"And I really _don't _wanna try to con _Toph_," Aang reasoned impassively.

"Please?" reduced to supplication, Sokka got onto his knees in front of the two of them, switching his gaze between them intermittently.

And this was officially getting into dangerous waters.

This was because something _important_ was on the line. And when it came to _important _things, stuff got _interesting_. And _that_ - _interesting stuff_ - was the primary commodity for the group of time-travellers.

Katara's eyes barely moved sideways until it met Aang's equally sly gaze.

This was getting squeezed for all it was worth.

And her brother was really just _asking_ for it with his unsightly, dishonest begging.

"O_kay_, Sokka, I'll do it. For _you_," Katara, pretending to be put-upon, "_If _he's up to it."

When he looked away to receive an answer from Aang, she winked in his direction.

The Avatar gave no indication that he saw a thing, only sighing, "Sure. _Whatever_. But you _owe _me."

"Yeah!" Sokka said, earnest, "I owe you! Big time!"

_Ugh,_ she thought, looking at her brother with unfeigned incredulity, _He expects us to believe he'll honor a debt after weaseling out of a bet like that? He's going to get _exactly_ what he deserves!_

It'll end with him getting his butt kicked, sure, but that was no skin off Katara's nose after that slimy wisecrack about the camping pecking order.

And while Sokka's back was turned away as he cheerfully searched through the bag of supplies for another bowl to use, Aang gave her an answering smile, mischievous.

The corner of Katara's mouth went up.

The bedrock of who they were to each other hadn't changed.

And they both realized unexpectedly at that moment… that everything between them was fine again.

* * *

"There is something that _does_ last, though. Probably the kind of love that you were thinking about in the first place."

"Oh?"

"Friendship."

"Aha."

"Yes. Friendship is steady, adaptable, passionate, and free," he smiled, "It's like the Avatar of relationships. It can survive a _lot_."

"Oh, that sounds _intriguing_. Tell me about this philosophy."

* * *

"You _have _to work with a critical patient _sometime_!"

A middle-aged woman stammered, "I-I w-want to h-help…"

In a dark, but relatively clean, room, a bloodied young man lay on a cot with wounds partially dressed, moaning in pain, "Uggggghhhhh…"

A chime echoed into the room from the front of the shop, signalling a customer.

"I'm busy with a patient right now, please wait! Listen, you _can't _freeze up every time someone comes in torn up like this," the elder man explained patiently, not looking at her but at the broken form of his patient and gingerly attempting to discern what was damaged without increasing the pain, "You _say _that you want to be a nurse, but that will _not _happen if you get queasy doing the _very thing _nurses are needed for most. You need to come to a decision here, Sela. If you want to _be _a nurse, you've got to _act _like one. Otherwise-"

Must've hit something sensitive, because: "ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"

Sigh, "This won't do. Well, if you're _not _going to help me figure out so-called Mr. 'Tax Evader', go get the poppy syrup. _Obviously _the painkiller I already gave him isn't working…"

"Y-yes sir," she wavered, then bolted out of the back room to do as she was told.

Feeling a bundle of nervous energy coil up somewhere between her heart and stomach, she hastily poked around the storage room in search of the asked-for drug. The room was poorly lit; that was on purpose, because some of the materials in it were sensitive to light, and lost their properties if exposed for a prolonged amount of time. All the same, she needed light if she was going to see what she was doing; she moved to a table and took the lone oil lamp there to assist.

Holding up the weak light source, her eyes moved over shelf after shelf, frantically trying to recall where the sopoforics were in relation to everything else.

She'd already disappointed Doctor Shang several times before. Gensu always said she wasn't cut out for this, and that she should help him around the farm - and she was aware that it _was _harder for him without her. If she failed again, she'd be axed, and then she'd be stuck on the farm with her husband forever. Not that she wasn't prideful of her husband's livestock and accomplishments; it's just that she always wanted to do _more _with her life than just tending walking chicken-pork all day.

"Dragon root, herb of earth, dried banana leaf… come _on_,where's the _opium_!?"

The doctor's concerned voice came out of the back:

"Quickly, now! I'm trying to set one of the fragments but-"

"GaaaAAAaaargh..."

"Yo."

Startled, Sela looked up to see that someone had come into the storage room through the front entryway. A child; she couldn't immediately tell if it was a boy or a girl due to the bad lighting.

"I'm sorry, but you're not allowed to come back here-!"

The child rolled over her attempt to turn her away, "Second case, third shelf down on the far left, it's a big clay jar sealed with wax, you can't miss it."

"... Eh?"

"The _pain killer_? You know, might wanna get it quick, because otherwise the pain will kill _him_?"

Sela blinked, then checked, moving her lamp to illuminate the indicated area. She had already checked that part of the shelf, but…

There it was. The words were there on the jar: _Poppy Syrup_. But the ink was faded; that explained how she missed it the first time around. But it _didn't _explain how a perfect stranger just strolled in and _told her_ where it was.

Lifting the jar, Sela opened her mouth to say… something, really, she wasn't sure what was going to come out of her mouth, but was cut off before she could properly formulate a question:

"Don't ask. Just grab it and go; he needs it."

A string of curses culminated into a yowl, before devolving into soft sobs, "YAAAaargh… ahahuhu… waaaaahhh..."

"_Now_."

She was jolted into action, hurrying through the shelves to put the lamp back where it came from and moving back to the doorway leading to the back room with the jar clutched against her chest. Whereupon, she froze as images of blood and gore careened through her mind and her stomach rebelled at the thought of seeing it again.

_Why is this such a _problem_!?_ she internally wailed as a bead of sweat slid down the back of her neck.

The mystery girl's voice (she was fairly sure it was a girl, now) came from right behind her, "Move it, sister, that man needs our _help_. If you don't light a fire under your butt in three seconds, I'm _pushing_."

Sela obligingly stumbled forward.

Snatching the jar out of her arms, Shang started measuring out a dose, all the while clucking his tongue.

"_Slow_. You were _slow_. How would _you _like it if a nurse took their time with the morphine while you lay abed with your bones in broken pieces?"

"S-sorry. The label was faded," Sela mumbled, looking everywhere except for the young man on the cot.

Carefully, the doctor held the patient still with one arm while entreating him to open his mouth. Once he had done so, he tipped the cup so that the painkiller went straight into the mouth.

Having administered the medicine, the older man lifted up the jar to his face for a closer look. "Hmm, I see. That's no good. I'll have to ink a new one, then, before I get it refilled when the suppliers come by. I'm just glad I haven't used it by accident at some point!"

And then a five foot tall problem spoke up, walking around to the other side of the bed to address Shang directly, "Gramps. What's the sitch with the guy?"

Definitely a girl. Black hair with bangs low enough to cover her eyes. Wearing some kind of costume. Bare feet.

And apparently _out to ruin her life_.

Sela flinched.

The doctor gave an outraged shout, "WHAT!? Who are you? What are you doing in here!? SELA! You are _fired_! You let some random kid come back here!?"

Attempting to explain, "N-no! I _tried _to tell her to leave, but-"

The girl cut off her half-started clarification with, "His ribcage is a jigsaw puzzle, isn't it?"

The statement stunned the two adults in the room with its bluntness for a second, and then Shang sighed.

"Well, _yes_, actually. It didn't look so bad at first when I had him carried in here, but... there's just… too many pieces. From what I can tell from looking just now, Mr. Ling will not survive this. The damage is too great, I'm afraid. The best that we can do is make the end come as painlessly as possible," and then he squinted through the dark, "And what would _you_ know about it, brat? You can't just come waltzing back here! Leave!"

The man that lay between them, Ling, gave a shuddering breath and made a garbled noise through his drug-induced stupor, "Hegarbluguglargarug… hegugaguh…? Gerblerguh…"

"No," came the resolute response. Through the dark, Sela saw the flash of a smile underneath face-obscuring dark hair, "You said it yourself. If I leave him in your hands, then he's dead meat. Guess that means I'll have to do something about that."

"What?" and here the doctor snorted, "This is not a place for you, little girl. Get out of my clinic, now. Where are your parents, anyway? They ought to be ashamed of themselves-"

"My _parents_… are _not here_. And for your information," she growled, "I'm the greatest earthbender you will ever meet," and the girl sat, so that she was directly across from the doctor and right next to the patient on the raised mat. She pointed one finger at Ling's chest, "I can heal him. The bones are made of earth, and chi shifts through a living person's skeleton. I can feel where the pieces are with my earthbending, move them to the right spots, and heal the fractures."

Sela had never heard of such a thing before, and if the look on Shang's face was any indication, neither had he, and he had something to say about it.

Would have, except that she could _see _her employer's adam's apple jerk as the words froze in his throat. She was feeling pretty speechless as well.

For the little girl had lifted her other hand, already covered in a neat glove of stone which had thus far gone unnoticed, and through the cracks of the rocks came a ghostly greenish glow.

* * *

_The chi didn't flow. No. That was the domain of water. Blood._

_It _shifted_. Like the earth. Slow._

_The bones were strong._

_Like a mountain._

_And would be made whole once more._

* * *

Wordlessly, Sela joined the doctor, sitting at his side, and he unconsciously moved to make room, both of their eyes trained on the marvel at work in front of them.

All that she and Shang could do was stare at Ling's peacefully sleeping form in awe.

"Amazing…" the doctor breathed.

The girl - she still hadn't given any name - continued to slowly move the glove of glowing lodestones over the patient's ribcage, muttering to herself before speaking aloud:

"This is gonna take awhile. Earth healing takes _forever_, no matter how experienced you are, _trust me_. I know some _really old people _who would _know_. With that in mind, just out of curiosity… Who decided to use this Ling guy as an earthbending practice dummy?"

Jarred out of their wonderment, Sela and Shang glanced at each other, before the man decided to speak for them both.

"Well, if this," he gestured at the green healing light, "wasn't enough to show that you're not from around here, then that remark certainly was. It was Gao, the captain of the local garrison for the Earth Kingdom Army," he grimaced, looking like he wanted to spit at the name, but unwilling to do such an unsanitary thing in his clinic, "Feh. That… _thug_… and his cronies aren't accountable to _anybody_, in his mind. He's a greedy coward; only picks fights he's sure he'll win, and defends nothing but his own hide. If the Fire Nation came knocking, all they'd have to do is fork over some gold and he'd be gone like the wind."

"What'd Ling do to get his attention?"

Sela tentatively spoke up, raising a hand up to her temple to banish the headache which was already forming at the thought of that _person_, "I think it was because Ling refused to pay the 'tax' twice in one week. He's new; just moved here a few months ago. He didn't know how Gao runs things around here," her other hand clenched into a fist in her lap, "He didn't know that Gao… 'punishes tax evaders'."

The girl hummed.

"Sounds like the guy desperately needs a royal kick in the pants," she commented.

"You think that hasn't crossed the mind of everyone who lives here?" Shang asked darkly, "There's nothing we can do! There aren't any other earthbenders here; no one can face Gao," he deflated, and gestured at the limp form between them, "Not without ending up like him."

"And if you just rounded up the whole village and fought him, he'd end up killing someone trying to escape the consequences of being a hoodlum jerk."

She paused, and nodded her head sagely, "I personally volunteer for this most noble task of butt whoop."

The man raised an eyebrow, "Just because _you_ happen to be an earthbender-"

Snapping, "The best, and _don't you forget it_. I can do things with a handful of dirt that would give you _nightmares _just to _imagine_, old man, so don't insult me by saying that I _can't _put that loser in his place. All you guys need to do is put together a _real _militia to defend this town after I'm done."

Arms folded, the man quieted, his skepticism at the prospects of such a fight quite clear.

Ignoring him, the healer finished her work, huffing as the glow dimmed.

"He's lucky none of his organs were pierced, 'cause I wouldn't've been able to do diddly-doo-dah about that," then she stood up and walked around, saying, "As it is, I don't _do _open wounds." and grabbing Sela's arm. Bemusedly, the woman allowed herself to be dragged to the other side of the mat, "C'mon, sister. You wanna be nurse, you gotta make it happen."

* * *

Chuckling, "Now, why do you think that there's a whole _philosophy _behind what I just said?"

"Well, it's pretty obvious," his opposite said gamely, "I'd bet my Pai Sho set that Passion is Fire, right?"

"That is where Passion would mostly fall, yes. But only _Fire _is Fire, old man."

"Of course." On this they both certainly agreed. "What is the most suitable analogue for, say… Earth?"

"That is not a relationship."

"Hm?"

"It is simply presence. Being there. Strong and unmovable. No matter how the wind howls, or the waves crash, or the flames burn, the mountain will not, _can_not bow to these things. Supportive, in some contexts, but implacable in others. The Earth is unfeeling. A stone doesn't talk or communicate… or throw itself. It simply _exists_, despite anything else."

"Hmmm… And what of Water? Is _that _a relationship?"

"Yes..."

And the night turned on.

* * *

Deep within the soul of Aang, there was a special place that was not human.

A place set aside by providence to be the home of a wondrous being.

Light flowed from this place, and connected to every living thing.

In this place, was the Spirit of the World, goddess of all.

She was bound to the Good Soul, the soul of Wan.

Reincarnated tens of tens of times, until Aang.

For nigh on ten thousand years, a human.

Knowing humans, now, conscious.

Guiding them. Protecting them.

Often, from themselves.

Caring for them.

Loving them.

Raava.

It was not a physical place. There was no way to describe it in a classical three dimensional analogue; it was simply beyond the comprehension of the human mind. However, _if_ one were to use such a metaphor…. one could say that She shifted restlessly.

Something was… wrong.

The Good Soul… Aang, now… it was… _dark_.

And She had no idea why.

The spirit is not the mind; though the two were connected, they were distinct, and Raava Herself was typically barred from such interaction with Her host by the weight of hundreds of previous incarnations. That avenue to answers was barred to Her.

So She decided to call on the next most accessible thing.

"**Roku…**"


End file.
